


The Red Diamond

by WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: Blood, F/F, Vigilante type superheroes, Violence, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-08-29 09:58:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8484970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks/pseuds/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks
Summary: The newspapers hail her as a hero, the police as a dangerous vigilante and the city's criminals as the worst thing that ever happened to them. But the Red Diamond just does what she needs to do to keep her city and the people she cares about safe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I have had the idea for a Roisa superhero AU since March, and as I have exams this week, I decided that now was the perfect time to write it out. Because it has sort of become tradition for me to start new multichapter fics in stead of studying. Because I have my priorities straight.
> 
> Regardless of my poor life choices, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The sun rose slowly above the horizon, illuminating the abandoned streets of downtown Miami. A lone figure hurried through the ever shrinking shadows, staying close to the walls, a black bag slung over her shoulder.

She cursed softly under her breath as she searched around her bag, her fingers numb from the cold and exhaustion. She ducked into the alley next to a tall apartment building, triumphantly pulling the small pocket mirror from the large bag,

A dark alley reeking of garbage and somehow, this was a nice neighborhood, of urine, was not the best place to do this. But it was the only space available to her right now.

She took off her mask, stowing it in the bag before running a moist towelette over her face. Removing most of the dark makeup and dried blood in one go. After a couple minutes of hastily cleaning her face she checked herself in the mirror, glad to see her clean yet obviously exhausted face reflected back at her thanks to the low lighting of the “exit” sign behind her.

Next she did a rush-job of cleaning her weapons, just to get the worst of the blood and dirt off. She should really take better care of them, but right now all she wanted was to get into bed and sleep until the sun fully rose.

She stripped off her jacket, putting it in the bag, shivering as the cold air brushed against her bare arms. Confident she looked like a normal person again, she slung the bag over her shoulder and walked up to the building’s front door.

She unlocked the door, hurrying up the stairs as fast as her exhausted legs could carry her. She had stayed out too long tonight, but the lead she was following was too promising to abandon midway through just because she needed more than an hour of sleep a night.

She quietly snuck into her apartment, stowing her bag in the hallway closet before stripping off all her clothes and crawling back under the covers.

‘Where’ve you been?’ Luisa mumbled sleepily, immediately curling herself around Rose.

‘Bathroom,’ Rose whispered, stroking Luisa’s dark hair. ‘Go back to sleep.’

Luisa murmured something that sounded like a protest but soon her breathing evened out and she was back asleep. Luisa had started staying the night more and more now, and it was beginning to interfere with Rose’s other nightly activities. But she couldn’t really kick Luisa out of her bed late at night just so she could come back home in the morning without the risk of her girlfriend finding out how she spent her nights.

Things were getting serious between them, and Rose should probably break up with her now before it was too late and Luisa saw something she couldn’t un-see. She had tried to convince herself that it was better that way, but it hadn’t really worked. She liked Luisa too much already and Luisa seemed to like her in return.

So she kept putting the breakup off, convincing herself that tomorrow would be the day while knowing deep down that she didn’t have it in her to end things with Luisa. So instead she lied and sneaked around behind her girlfriend’s back, and it was not ideal, but she actually preferred come back to a warm bed in the morning.

* * *

‘’Morning,’ Luisa whispered, sweetly brushing her lips across Rose’s.

Rose blinked furiously against the sunlight shining right into her eyes. Not feeling very refreshed

‘Mmh, good morning,’ she muttered groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 50 minutes of sleep was not nearly enough and her body was rebelling against getting up. Wanting to bury itself in the soft sheets and sleep the day away. But she had a job to do. She forced herself to sit up, her stiff limbs screaming with the lack of sleep and the overexertion the day before.

‘Wanna shower together?’ Luisa grinned, teasingly running her finger up and down Rose’s sternum.

‘Coffee first,’ Rose yawned. ‘But after that, yes please,’ she smirked.

‘You don’t have to say “please”, babe,’ Luisa teased. ‘The pleasure is all mine.’

‘Coffee,’ Rose laughed, holding out her hand.

‘You really need to cut back on the caffeine. It’s not healthy,’ Luisa said seriously, handing Rose a cup of coffee. After being subjected to Rose’s morning personality for a couple of months now, she had come prepared.

‘I know,’ Rose said, taking a sip of the drink. She really should cut back on the coffee, she was drinking much more now than she ever had, even when in college, but these days it was the only way she could function. And an increased caffeine intake was by far the _least_ dangerous thing she had started doing lately.

Luisa leaned in to kiss her, only to pull back at the last second with a frown.

‘Is that blood?’ she asked as she gently reached out to brush the smudge on Rose’s forehead away.

‘Oh, I must have scratched myself,’ Rose lied smoothly. She bust have missed a spot last night. She should really pay better attention to possible evidence of her activities before getting back in bed with Luisa. Maybe even take a shower beforehand. Even if that was suspicious in its own way.

‘You must have,’ Luisa smiled, accepting the lie as there wasn’t really another good explanation for why Rose was bleeding. ‘Now finish that coffee and come shower with me,’ Luisa husked, sashaying into Rose’s bathroom like she owned it. Which judging by the amount of Luisa’s stuff that had amassed in her house over the past couple of months was becoming more true by the day.

* * *

‘What do you think about the Red Diamond?’ Luisa asked, reading the headline of today’s newspaper.

‘Is that what they are calling her now?’ Rose said as she scrambled the eggs in a pan. Not turning around to look at Luisa.

‘Seems so. I quite like it. It’s catchy.’

‘It pretty obvious, though, isn’t it?’ Rose said, sipping from her second cup of coffee of the day. ‘With the red hair and all that?’

‘It’s better than calling her “the red vigilante”. That just sounds boring and doesn’t do justice to her beauty. Now she has a real superhero name. The Red Diamond. You can put that on a comic book,’ Luisa smiled.

‘You don’t think that what she’s doing is stupid? Taking on all those bad guys by herself?’

‘A little, but she seems to be able to handle herself. And it least she is doing a better job than the cops are. She’s actually making a difference.’

‘Sounds like you have a little crush on the Red Diamond, babe,’ Rose teased.

‘Well, what can I say? I have a soft spot for redheads,’ Luisa smiled crookedly, her heated gaze resting on Rose.

‘As long as you don’t go out in the middle of the night to fight gangbangers by yourself,’ Rose said, sliding the eggs onto two plates, putting one down in front of Luisa.

‘It _would_ be a good way to get saved by a cute redhead,’ Luisa mused, turning the page.

‘I am right here, you know?’ Rose said, feigning hurt while actually trying to hide her smile.

‘Aww, babe, don’t be jealous. You are the only crime fighting redhead for me,’ Luisa smiled brightly, planting a kiss on Rose’s cheek.

‘I better be,’ Rose grinned. ‘And speaking about fighting crime, I can drop you off before court today.’

‘Go put those bad guys the Red Diamond caught for you in jail, babe,’ Luisa said as she got up, tossing Rose her keys.

‘It’s more difficult than you think to do that,’ Rose sighed. ‘It’s sort of in the gray area of the law.’

‘As long as they are off the streets, right?’ Luisa yelled as she got her coat.

‘Definitely,’ Rose yelled after her, reading the first few lines of the article as she waited. She could get used to being called the Red Diamond, it was fitting in more ways than one. ‘Come on, let’s go. Don’t want to make you late,’ Rose smiled, handing Luisa a spare helmet and guiding her out of the apartment with a soft touch to the small of her back.

‘My patients will understand when they see my insanely hot girlfriend drops me off on her motorcycle,’ Luisa

‘How accommodating of them,’ Rose smiled. ‘Now hold on, morning traffic is a bitch.’

* * *

Rose could barely keep her eyes open as the defense attorney kept blabbering on about something inconsequential.

‘Objection,’ Rose said as she got out of her chair.

‘On what grounds?’ the slimy attorney with his slicked back hair yelled at her. Looking offended she even _dared_ to challenge his methods.

Rose didn’t really have any grounds for it. She just needed him to stop talking before she fell asleep. ‘Relevance?’ Rose tried.

‘Are you asking me or are you telling me, counselor?’ the judge said, looking vaguely amused.

‘Telling you, your honor,’ Rose said putting on her lawyer face. ‘I personally do not see the relevance of Mr. Huntington reading out the entire instruction manual for a rice cooker.’

‘And you couldn’t have objected to this ten pages ago?’ the judge said, sounding just as bored as Rose felt.

‘I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I thought some sort of defense strategy might appear somewhere in the explanation of how to use a pressure cooker.’

Huntington ground his teeth, obviously holding back a comment.

‘Sustained. Move along Mr. Huntington.’

Rose flashed Huntington a triumphant grin before sitting back down. His client next to him unabashedly ogling her.

She looked at his still purple, swollen and definitely broken nose and made a mental note to hit him harder next time she came across him. Not that she would for a very long time. Huntington’s rice cooker alibi was not going to get this man out of assaulting six women.

And having taken this man of the streets was something she would gladly give up sleep for.

After his failed alibi, it became clear Huntington was out of ideas, so after a flawlessly delivered closing statement and her fourth cup of coffee that day she was back in her office filing the necessary paperwork for her win.

She believed the court system worked, but she also believed it could use a little help. Which was why she spent her nights rounding up criminals that had previously slipped through the cracks in the justice system. Nobody else was more qualified for it than her.

And yet, even after all the nights she spent in dark streets, she still jumped slightly as her phone started ringing suddenly.

‘What cup of coffee are you on?’ Luisa’s voice sounded accusatory even through the receiver.

‘Fourth,’ Rose answered truthfully.

‘It better be decaf,’ Luisa muttered.

‘Sorry,’ Rose said sheepishly. ‘But thank you for checking up on me.’

‘Lot of good it does,’ Luisa sighed. ‘But that was not why I called. I wondered if you wanted to do lunch? One of my patients cancelled their appointment so I have some extra time today. And you have obviously already won your case, so you can take some time off to go eat a _healthy_ lunch with me.’

‘How do you know I won?’ Rose smiled, spinning around in her chair so she could look out of the window.

‘You would have been on cup six of the day if you’d lost,’ Luisa said smugly.

‘Alright, detective,’ Rose laughed. ‘I would love to eat lunch with you. See you in half an hour?’

‘Try not to fall down the courthouse steps. Once is enough,’ Luisa teased.

Rose sighed. ‘You are never going to let that go, are you?’

‘No, not really. You literally _fell_ for me. It is only by some miracle you didn’t get serious hurt.’

By some miracle indeed, Rose thought. ‘I will try not to, see you soon.’

‘No more coffee!’ Luisa warned.

‘I can’t make any promises,’ Rose replied before hanging up. She tried to concentrate on work after, but her tired mind just kept drifting back to Luisa. So when she met her at the bottom of the courthouse steps half an hour later, she hadn’t finished any of her paperwork.

‘Look at you making it down the stairs in one piece,’ Luisa teased, before pulling Rose in for a soft kiss.

‘I have always made it down the stairs in one piece,’ Rose smiled smugly.

‘You are just lucky,’ Luisa huffed, linking their hands together.

Lucky was one way to describe it, Rose thought.

* * *

‘Stop working and come to bed,’ Luisa yawned, looping her arms around Rose’s neck from behind. ‘Sleep is better than your 10th cup of coffee.’

‘Ninth,’ Rose said, closing her laptop.

‘You have had _nine_ cups of coffee today?’ Luisa said, sounding astounded. ‘Okay, that is it. You are coming to bed with me, right now. And you are going to sleep.’

‘Lu,’ Rose said, taking another sip of her now tepid coffee. ‘I have to finish this.’

‘It’s Friday. It can wait,’ Luisa said, continuing when Rose made no indication of getting up. ‘Fine, I’ll offer you a choice. You can come to bed with me, or you can tell me why you’re always gone when I wake up at night.’

Rose bit her lip, Luisa was a deep sleeper, but she knew it was too much to hope Luisa hadn’t noticed her absences during the night. It was just that she couldn’t really explain where she went at night without telling Luisa a whole lot of things she wasn’t ready to share yet. If ever.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Luisa smiled, not seeming upset about Rose’s silence in the slightest. ‘Come to bed.’

Rose sighed, closing her laptop and taking Luisa’s hand, following her into the bedroom. She had to tell Luisa _something_ , even if Luisa seemed to accept her silence.

‘I don’t _go_ anywhere at night. Sometimes I wake up and can’t fall back asleep and instead of waking you up with my constant tossing and turning, I go work in the living room for a while until I can fall back asleep.’

‘Is it because I have been staying over? Because I can go home after sex if you want?’ Luisa said, soothingly rubbing Rose’s arms.

‘No, it’s not because of you. I love it when you stay over,’ Rose smiled, taking Luisa’s hands in her own.

‘So why you aren’t you sleeping?’ Luisa asked, turning back the covers and sitting Rose down.

Rose sighed. This was exactly the reason she needed to break up with Luisa. She was starting to notice things and Rose didn’t have any good excuses to explain her behavior. But she couldn’t break up with her. She didn’t want to. So that meant more lies, even if she hated lying to Luisa.

‘Work,’ Rose said. It wasn’t even a complete lie. By now her second, unofficial job as the city’s resident superhero was taking up as much of her time as her real job. If not more.

‘You work too hard,’ Luisa husked, pulling Rose into a loose embrace.

‘Well, criminals need to be put in jail,’ Rose sighed, resting her head on Luisa’s shoulder.

‘Let the Red Diamond take care of that,’ Luisa said softly. ‘You just stay in bed with me.’

Rose laughed, the Red Diamond was the very reason she was currently drinking 10 cups of coffee a day.

‘Alright,’ Rose murmured. She could take one night off; she really needed to sleep. And Luisa was making a very convincing point by kissing down her neck. ‘The Red Diamond can handle herself.’

‘Mmh, she most definitely can. Have you seen her arms?’ Luisa whispered against the hollow of Rose’s throat.

‘Can you not talk about how hot someone else is when you’re trying to get in my pants? It strangely enough does not work,’ Rose said, having trouble keeping from smiling at the idea Luisa thought she was hot. Which was a little strange as she knew Luisa found her, Rose, hot already.

‘Sorry, just got distracted. Your arms are really nice, too,’ Luisa grinned.

* * *

Rose woke up the next morning after the first night of undisturbed in weeks and felt much better.

‘Hey babe,’ Luisa smiled, putting down her book. ‘How did you sleep?’

‘Well,’ Rose smiled, stretching her arms above her head. ‘Really well, thank you. How long have you been up?’

‘A while, I decided to let you sleep. You looked like you needed it.’

‘I did,’ Rose smiled, pushing herself up on her elbows to kiss her. ‘Thank you.’

‘So I should probably go home today,’ Luisa said, running her fingers through Rose’s hair.

‘Why?’ Rose said, immediately thinking she’d messed up by lying to Luisa last night.  

‘Well, I haven’t seen the inside of my own apartment building all week,’ Luisa said, her smile calming Rose’s nerves a little.

Rose thought back and realized that she and Luisa _had_ been spending every free minute of the week together.

‘And you should probably do that very important work I kept you from last night,’ Luisa teased.

‘Can we at least shower together before you go?’ Rose said, the words coming our more like a whine than she had intended.

‘Most definitely,’ Luisa smiled, exaggeratedly arching her back as she stretched.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rose said, grimacing slightly as she noticed the red streaks on Luisa’s back.

‘It’s fine,’ Luisa grinned. ‘I like it when you lose control. And besides, I am sure I left some marks on you last night,’ she smirked, spinning Rose around. ‘Wow, nothing,’ she said, running her hands over the flawless expanse of Rose’s back.

‘Maybe you just need to try harder,’ Rose teased, pulling Luisa into the bathroom.

‘Maybe I should,’ Luisa grinned, eagerly following Rose.

* * *

After her night off, Rose was more alert than ever. And without Luisa sleeping in her apartment, she didn’t need to worry about her girlfriend finding out she spent her nights fighting dangerous criminals. No matter how much Luisa liked the Red Diamond, she doubted she would feel the same if she found out it was her girlfriend doing the fighting.

She watched the two guys she had been shadowing all evening walk into a building. One of the two was a gangbanger who she had tried to convict last week, only for his lawyer to get him off on a technicality. He wouldn’t be so lucky this time. But his friend was a problem. She didn’t know him and couldn’t in good conscience beat him up for hanging out with a criminal. That was not what she did. She had rules.  

But beating up a possibly innocent man was not the only problem she faced that night. She had been doing this for 8 months now, and while she could handle herself in one-on-one fights, two-on-one were something she hadn’t tried before. Which was why she had been following the two of them in the hope they would split up, but the chances of that happening were becoming slim.

Rose checked her surroundings before ducking into the alley next to the abandoned warehouse the two men had just entered. Which she had to admit, was definitely a shady location. Luckily there was a fire escape with access to an open window so she could at least keep an eye on them in case they did something illegal, which was what she needed in order to engage.

‘Let’s do this,’ she whispered to herself as she leapt up, catching the first rung of the ladder. At least her ten years of gymnastics training were serving her some sort of purpose now later in life.

She quietly sneaked in through the open window, silently making her along the catwalk, following the voices.

The good thing was that she did not have to feel bad about beating up both men, as they were both _definitely_ involved in something criminal if the large amount of drugs hidden in shipping crates they were inspecting was anything to go by.

Which was more than incriminating enough for both of them to be locked up for a long time. Time to figure out if she could fight two guys at once.

‘Hi guys,’ Rose said, dropping down from the catwalk, rolling to break her fall and landing in a crouch position. ‘Step away from the drugs and put your hands up. Please,’ Rose added with a smile, tapping her baton against her knee as she straightened up.

‘You made a mistake coming here, vigilante,’ one of the men said as he advanced on her slowly.

‘It’s the Red Diamond now. I wasn’t really sure about it at first. But I think it fits, so I am keeping it,’ Rose smiled. ‘And you are the ones that made a mistake by committing, five, different crimes from what I can see,’ Rose said, tilting her head. The banter was not only because she enjoyed taunting the men, she also used it as a distraction while she checked out her opponents, figuring out the best way to attack.

‘Shut up, bitch,’ the man said, making the decision who to attack first for her as he lunged forwards.

Rose sidestepped easily, hitting him in the back of the knee with her baton so he collapsed on the floor. It was really true what they said, the bigger they were, the harder they fell.

‘See? Mistake,’ Rose said, turning to the guy still standing. This was not as difficult as she had expected. But she might have been a little too quick to judge. Maybe fighting two guys at once _had_ been a bad idea.

‘Any last words, _Red Diamond_?’ the man mocked as he pulled a gun on her.

Rose had not noticed he was carrying and as such was too slow to react, the bullet slamming into her chest with enough force to knock the breath from her lungs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to upload the second chapter, but life got busy (law school is _hard_ , who knew?) and I had some problems with the plot and the direction I wanted this story to take it. So very sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter, it wasn't supposed to take this long.
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose looked away from the gun, pain blossomed in her chest, sharp at first until it dulled to a soft throb. She took a shuddering breath, air rushing in to relieve the negative pressure in her lungs. Her shooter’s smile falling as she squared her shoulders.

Rose looked down at her chest, poking her finger through the bullet hole in her shirt.   
‘Aww, come on, I just bought this,’ she exclaimed in annoyance.

‘What the hell?’ the man yelled, checking his gun before firing again. His friend on the floor clutching his knee and staring at her in shock as the hail of bullets his buddy was firing on her didn’t even slow her down. When she knew the impact was coming it was easier to breathe through it.

‘I’m afraid that isn’t going to work,’ Rose said, hitting him in the arm so his gun fell clattering to the floor. It wasn’t like it could do her any serious harm, but being bulletproof didn’t stop getting hit in the head with it from hurting so she would rather avoid it all together.

Predictably, the shooter still scrambled after it. But before he could reach it, Rose hit him in the stomach, making him double over with a loud “oomph”.

‘I told you that was a mistake,’ Rose continued, twisting his arm behind his back and slipping a pair of handcuffs on before moving on to do the same to his friend. The two of them too shocked by the ineffectiveness off their guns to do much than stare as she tied them to a pole. She got that a lot.

‘The police will be here soon,’ Rose smiled. ‘Have fun in jail!’ she added as she walked out of the building, through the front door this time.

>>>>>> 

‘Five more minutes,’ Rose muttered into her pillow as her alarm blared loudly from her bedside table.

There was no reply and it took Rose a couple of seconds to figure out why but then she remembered: Luisa wasn’t there.

Last night she had gotten home to an empty house, which after a week of sneaking into her own apartment and her own bed had been a strange experience, and honestly a little disappointing.

She had missed Luisa’s sleepy murmurs, her soft kisses and her warm, comforting weight next to her in bed. Which gave her the feeling that, once again, today was not going to be the day she broke up with Luisa. She liked her too much already and those feelings were only getting stronger.

Annoyed with her own feelings, she buried her face deeper into her pillow, her alarm still ringing.

She groggily reached out to shut it off, only then realizing that it was Sunday and that she hadn’t set an alarm. She hadn’t needed to.

A small smile curved her lips when she saw who exactly was calling her this early on a Sunday. It seemed she hadn’t been the only one missing something in her bed the previous night.

‘Hey, babe,’ Rose greeted, her voice still heavy from sleep.

‘Hey, did I wake you?’

‘A little,’ Rose smiled.

‘I’m sorry, I should have let you sleep.’

‘Don’t worry about it, I would rather talk with you than sleep.’

‘So did you sleep well?’

‘Not as well as I do with you next to me,’ Rose hummed, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she was up right now so she might as well make a cup of coffee.

‘So it wasn’t me that made you sleep terribly then?’ Luisa asked, sounding relieved.

‘No, I told you. It wasn’t your fault,’ Rose said, already feeling guilty that she had made Luisa feel like she was somehow to blame. ‘I am just a bit of an insomniac.’ The lie didn’t make her feel any better, but she couldn’t tell Luisa the truth.

‘Hold off on that coffee, will you?’ Luisa said just as Rose was busy filling the coffeemaker with water.

‘How did you know?’ Rose laughed, putting the coffee pot down on the kitchen counter.

‘I know you,’ Luisa said, Rose perfectly imagining the warm smile on her face. ‘And coffee was what I was calling you about. I was wondering if you wanted to meet me for breakfast, well more like brunch now, in the café across from the courthouse?’

‘Of course,’ Rose smiled. ‘See you there in half an hour?’

‘I’ll be waiting for you there, coffee at the ready,’ Luisa smiled.

‘God, I love you,’ Rose said fondly, her brain catching up with her mouth a split second too late. Her eyes going wide and her mouth falling open. ‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ Rose blabbered, desperate to undone the unintentional, but definitely _true_ slip of her tongue. She _did_ love Luisa. She just hadn’t realized it before. ‘I just meant because of the coffee,’ she continued, pinching the bridge of her nose.

‘Rose, breathe,’ Luisa said. ‘I love you too.’

Rose felt her heart stop for a moment, butterflies filling her chest cavity instead. For the first time since discovering she had powers she felt truly warm again.

‘Really?’ Rose breathed.

‘Yes, really,’ Luisa laughed. ‘I love you, you idiot! Why else would I call you within 24 hours of last seeing you and ask you to have breakfast with me?’

Rose smiled, feeling intensely happy. ‘I love you, too. I can’t believe I just said that for the first time over the phone,’ Rose groaned, annoyed with herself for the second time that day.

‘You can say it again when you see me in person,’ Luisa teased.

‘I will,’ Rose smiled, she didn’t think she was ever going to stop now. ‘I will see you soon, okay?’

‘Yes, go shower! I want to kiss you.’

‘Can’t wait,’ Rose smiled. ‘And Luisa?’

‘Yes?’

‘I love you.’

‘Calm down, you are like, obsessed with me,’ Luisa teased. ‘But I love you too.’

‘Bye,’ Rose smiled into her receiver.

‘Bye, see you soon.’

And with that Rose finally hung up, her smile not fading.

She _loved_ Luisa. And Luisa loved her back. Not once in her life had she thought she would have this, especially after what happened. _After what happened_ …

And suddenly her smile fell. This was a major next step in their relationship, a relationship that she had been intending to break up because Luisa had been starting to catch on. A relationship she _could_ no longer break up. She had never really wanted to, which was why she had been putting it off for months now. But she also didn’t want to tell Luisa the truth, afraid of what she might think of her. Afraid she would leave her for who she was.

That left only one option; continuing to lie to Luisa. Which wasn’t great, Luisa was smart and deserved better than Rose lying to her. But Rose had no idea how to even bring the subject up. She couldn’t just go: “Hey, you know those nights you wake up and find me gone? I was actually out fighting crime. Oh and FYI I am bulletproof.” Because that definitely wouldn’t send her running for the hills.

Rose sighed and got in the shower. She had to find a way to deal with this, because she didn’t want to give up either thing. She loved Luisa, but she also loved being the Red Diamond.

>>>>>.

‘There she is, my hero,’ Luisa said as saw Rose approach.

Rose froze. ‘Your what?’ she asked anxiously. Luisa couldn’t know, right?

‘My hero,’ Luisa repeated, still smiling. ‘You don’t know how long I have been waiting to say “I love you”. I just wasn’t sure you felt the same way,’ she admitted softly.

Rose’s relief that Luisa had no idea how accurate her term of endearment had been, was replaced with the sinking feeling that Luisa hadn’t been able to tell how in love she was with her. And her sneaking out at night and overall secret keeping was definitely the cause of that.

‘I love you,’ Rose smiled, putting her hands on Luisa’s hips and pulling her in for a kiss. ‘I love you,’ she murmured against Luisa’s lips as she pulled away from her the kiss.

‘I love you, too,’ Luisa smiled, stealing another kiss. ‘Now, I know I shouldn’t feed into your habit, but I got you coffee.’

‘I love you,’ Rose said, just because she could, following Luisa to their table. ‘And I _love_ coffee.’

‘I know you do,’ Luisa smiled as Rose took a sip of her very strong coffee.

Rose slung her arms around Luisa’s shoulders, pulling her closer to her on the couch. ‘I’m happy I met you.’

‘I’m happy I met you, too,’ Luisa hummed softly. ‘And if it wasn’t for your clumsiness, we never would have,’ Luisa teased, pointedly looking out of the window at the courthouse steps rising in front of them.

‘Can we please forget that ever happened,’ Rose groaned in faux annoyance. In truth, she didn’t really mind Luisa bringing it up at every opportunity she got. It was pretty funny after all.

‘No, tell me again what went through your head?’ Luisa asked as she clasped her hands around her cup of tea, looking up at Rose with her pleading brown eyes.

Rose smiled back at her. ‘I thought that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and that I wanted to ask you out for coffee. And I was so busy staring at you that I missed a step and fell down the stairs, all the way to the bottom.’

‘And I heard people yelling and calling for help, and because I am a good Samaritan I decided to check it out,’ Luisa grinned, pulling Rose’s arm tighter around her.

‘You are a doctor, you are legally obliged to check it out,’ Rose murmured under her breath.

‘Shh, I am telling a story here,’ Luisa grinned, poking Rose in the ribs. ‘So I wake my way through the crowd, and there I find, lying on the ground, the world’s most beautiful woman, with the reddest, most vibrant hair I had ever seen.’ She kept grinning as she recounted the tale. ‘So I kneeled at her side…’

‘And you asked me if I was hurt.’

‘And you, against all doctor’s protocols in place for accidents like this, shook your head.’

‘And as I told you then, I was fine. No neck injurie, no other injuries, not even a scratch,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa’s cheek.

‘Didn’t stop me from trying to get you into the hospital though. I have never seen someone pretty much somersault down thirty stone steps and not break every bone in their body.’

Rose pecked Luisa on the cheek again before taking another sip of her coffee. ‘I was just lucky.’ Lucky to be super powered, she thought. If she hadn’t been, that tumble down the courthouse steps might have been way more than just a fun anecdote.

‘Yeah, you were. And because you were _adamantly_ refusing to let me take you to the hospital to get you checked out, I offered to do it myself.’

‘And I countered with me taking you to get coffee.’

‘You do love coffee,’ Luisa smiled warmly, weaving her fingers between Rose’s.

‘I do, and then we went here,’ Rose continued, looking around the smallish café that was decently busy for a Sunday morning.

‘And I did a whole lot more than checking you out medically,’ Luisa finished for her.

‘I don’t know, you making me flex all my extremities and asking who our president was, didn’t really seem like first date things to me.’

‘That was just a ruse, I was also still slightly concerned for your health, so it was a usefully ruse. But you appeared to be fine, and I really wanted to touch you.’

‘So you didn’t ask me back to your place to keep an eye on me in case of a possible concussion?’ Rose teased.

‘Maybe a little,’ Luisa mused. ‘But I just also really wanted to have sex with you,’ she hummed in Rose’s ear, her breath hot on Rose’s skin.

Rose shivered, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘Want to go do that now?’

‘Rose, we’re in public!’ Luisa said scandalized, the curve of her lips telling Rose she had understood exactly what she meant and was just being deliberately obtuse.

‘You live close by,’ Rose purred, the hand on Luisa’s knee inching steadily higher.

‘We haven’t even have had breakfast yet,’ Luisa said, stirring her tea, not looking up to meet Rose’s heated gaze.

‘I am sure there is something to eat at your place…’ Rose mused, her fingers now rubbing soft circles over the inseam of Luisa’s jeans. Much higher than was publically acceptable.

‘God, I love you,’ Luisa smiled, Rose’s head tilting automatically as she met Luisa’s darkened eyes, kissing her deeply.

‘I love you, too,’ Rose smiled. ‘So let’s go?’

‘Let’s,’ Luisa said as she got to her feet, linking their hands and pulling Rose up with her.

Rose threw some money on the table before following her very eager girlfriend out of the café.

>>>>>>>> 

‘I do think I prefer the way you make breakfast,’ Luisa said as she wrapped her arms around Rose’s waist from behind.

‘Cold!’ Rose shivered as Luisa’s wet hair soaked through the shirt she was wearing.

‘You are always cold,’ Luisa smiled, pressing a sweet kiss to the back of Rose’s neck before stepping away, tying her hair back before leaning back in.

‘You did a pretty decent job of warming me up, though,’ Rose smirked as she flipped a pancake in the air.

‘Nice try, babe,’ Luisa laughed as the pancaked landed crookedly and folded itself in half.

‘Shh,’ Rose said, not able to keep the smile off her face. ‘Just for that you do not get to eat this one.’

‘Ro-ose,’ Luisa whined. ‘Imperfect pancakes taste the best. And I am _hungry_.’

‘Well, good thing I only make imperfect pancakes then,’ Rose smiled as she slid the vaguely oval but definitely a nice golden brown pancake onto a plate.

‘Love you,’ Luisa said, kissing Rose’s shoulder before stealing the plate off the counter.

Rose shook her head and continued baking until she ran out of batter, only then joining Luisa at the kitchen table.

‘So what were you up to last night? Caught any criminals?’ Luisa said as she looked up from her tablet.

‘What?’ Rose said, nearly choking on the bite of pancake she had just taken.

‘You were working on that court case last night, right? Found anything the nail him with yet?’ Luisa explained calmly, her eyebrows furrowed together in concern as Rose continued coughing.

‘Right, yes, that,’ Rose said as soon as she had her breathing back under control. Luisa didn’t know. Her secret was still safe. ‘I have the evidence on my side, so it will be fine,’ Rose smiled.

‘Good, so no nine coffee days this week?’ Luisa said, her look daring Rose to say yes.

‘No, no nine coffee days,’ Rose promised. ‘That was a one-time thing, promise.’ She had learned her lesson, one hour of sleep after a physically exhausting night followed by a day in court was not doable, and she wasn’t eager for a repeat performance of it any time soon.

‘If you have so much trouble sleeping, maybe you should see a doctor,’ Luisa said, concern etching her face.

‘I am seeing a doctor,’ Rose grinned.

Luisa rolled her eyes. ‘I meant a specialist.’

‘But I love my current doctor,’ Rose smiled, leaning across the table top to brush her lips against Luisa’s, the kiss tasting of pancakes and syrup.

‘Rose, I am trying to be serious here,’ Luisa pouted.

‘I know, and I promise you I will go see a doctor if it continues. But I am certain it was just work related stress. I have an easy week.’

‘Fine,’ Luisa sighed. ‘But you promise?’

‘Cross my heart and hope to die,’ Rose grinned, causing Luisa to roll her eyes again.

‘You’re hopeless,’ she said, unable to hide her own growing smile so she looked back down at the paper.

Rose just smiled, gathering up their plates and dumping them in the sink before shooing Luisa onto the couch. She was planning to spend her Sunday lounging on Luisa’s couch, the brunette close by and just not think about work or how and when she was going to tell Luisa she was the Red Diamond. Because she had to tell her at some point. She loved Luisa and keeping it a secret would only hurt their relationship, and she didn’t want that. Besides, Luisa was already starting to ask questions and she was running out of excuses. But she would figure that all out tomorrow, right now she just wanted to spent a lazy Sunday afternoon with her girlfriend.

Of course, as soon as she sat down and Luisa had nestled into her side, it became impossible not to think about it.

‘The Red Diamond really kicked ass last night,’ Luisa said.

Rose willed her facial expression to remain neutral. ‘Oh, really? What did she do now?’

‘According to this article she took on two guys at once, beat them up and cuffed them to a crate full of drugs. The police got there to arrest them and turns out the whole warehouse was full of the stuff, biggest drug catch of the year.’

Rose couldn’t stop the smile breaking across her face this time. She had gone out with the intention to get one criminal of the streets, instead she had gotten two and had stopped a warehouse-worth of drugs from hitting the streets. Not bad for one night’s work.

‘Good for her,’ Rose smiled.

‘Yeah, good for her,’ Luisa said, going back to reading her article in silence.

Rose just watched her for a while. Luisa was gorgeous, Rose always thought so, but there was something special about looking at her like this. Her damp hair starting to curl slightly as it dried, the oversized t-shirt she was wearing leaving her legs bare and the small crinkle between her brows as she concentrated on what she was reading. She was incredible and Rose had no idea what she had done to deserve her in her life.

She was still quietly watching Luisa as the other burst out laughing.

‘What’s so funny?’ Rose asked her.

‘Apparently, both of the guys the Red Diamond beat up last night are claiming she’s bulletproof.’

‘Well, I hope she is wearing some sort of protective gear when she goes out to fight criminals,’ Rose said, keeping her voice level.

‘She better,’ Luisa scoffed. ‘But this guy is saying even the armor piercing rounds did nothing. That he emptied a whole clip into her chest and nothing.’

‘People aren’t bulletproof,’ Rose shrugged, trying very hard to keep a straight face. The public had not yet caught on to the fact that she was actually bulletproof _without_ any protective clothing, and she would rather keep them in the dark about that. Like she said, people weren’t bulletproof, and while she herself hadn’t really figured out what exactly had made her that way, she didn’t want to submit herself to a whole battery of medical testing to find out. So just like her identity, that part was better kept a secret.

‘I know; they are obviously trying to make her sound superhuman to justify getting beat up by her. Being bulletproof would be nice though,’ Luisa mused.

‘In what way?’ Rose asked, genuinely curious.

‘So many reasons,’ Luisa smiled, putting her tablet down. ‘But I, for one, think it offers up a lot of possibilities for sex.’ Her smile turned predatory as she crawled into Rose’s lap. ‘You don’t have to be as afraid of hurting the other person,’ she purred, her lips ghosting over the shell of Rose’s ear before nipping at the lobe, Rose gasping in surprise. Luisa might not know she was actually dealing with someone who was bulletproof, that didn’t stop her from pointing out every single way sex could be different, and Rose soon got lost in the touches.

>>>>>>>> 

‘What do you want for dinner?’ Rose asked, softly carting her fingers through Luisa’s hair. They had ended up in bed together again, and honestly, Rose couldn’t imagine a more perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon than in bed with Luisa.

‘Mmh, I don’t know,’ Luisa hummed, her voice still heavy with sleep, they had taken a nap after their last round. ‘What are you in the mood for?’

‘A date?’ Rose suggested. ‘We could actually get dressed and go to a nice restaurant.’

‘I would like that,’ Luisa smiled, turning around in Rose’s embrace to kiss her softly. ‘I like being seen in public with you. Make everybody jealous of the fact that the most beautiful woman on the planet wants to be seen with me.’

‘I was thinking the same thing,’ Rose grinned lazily. ‘Now let’s shower. I’m hungry.’

Thirty minutes later they were outside, walking through the Miami streets on their way to a restaurant of Luisa’s choice, their hands swinging between them.

‘Today was nice,’ Luisa started.

‘It was,’ Rose smiled.

‘I wish every Sunday could be this nice,’ Luisa smiled, looking up at Rose, her eyes hopeful.

Rose knew were this conversation was going, and she would have agreed with Luisa if they hadn’t been interrupted at that moment.

A man ran past them, pulling Luisa’s purse off her shoulder.

‘Hey!’ Luisa yelled. ‘My bag!’

Rose’s instincts kicked in and without thinking about it she ran after the thief.

As she followed him, she came up with a plan. She was not wearing a mask, nor did she have her batons with her. She hadn’t _planned_ on catching any criminals tonight, but he had dared to touch Luisa, which meant all bets were off.

She didn’t really like hand to hand combat, preferred the distance and power her batons offered, but she could handle herself if it came to that. But right now she was just going to intimidate him into giving the bag back. Purse-snatchers usually didn’t plan on being followed.

Her target rounded a corner and just as she was about to follow a group of tourists appeared out of nowhere and blocked her path.

Rose sighed, it turned out she shouldn’t have worried about close combat, the mugger was long gone when she finally made her way through the herd of people.

‘Great,’ Rose sighed as she kicked against a can, the sound echoing through the tauntingly empty alleyway.

She slowly retraced her steps to Luisa, having nothing to show for her chase except sore feet. Heels were not invented with chasing criminals in mind and she was going write a sternly worded letter to every Hollywood movie producer and tell them that there is no reason their leading ladies should be expected to run and fight crime in high heels.

‘Rose!’ Luisa yelled as she noticed her, sprinting over from where she was talking with a cop, wrapping her in a crushing hug.

‘Hey,’ Rose said, a little surprised by her girlfriend’s action. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t get him.’

‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Luisa said as she pulled away, Rose only now noticing the tears staining Luisa’s cheeks.

Rose opened her mouth to answer, but then realized that she hadn’t really been thinking, chasing after bad guys had become sort of a reflex for her.

‘What if he had knife! Or a gun! You could have gotten hurt, or worse! It was just a stupid bag, Rose! God!’

‘I’m, I’m sorry,’ Rose stammered. ‘I wasn’t thinking.’

‘No, you clearly weren’t,’ Luisa said angrily, pacing the curb a few feet in front of her. ‘Just, never do that again,’ she said, her eyes still shimmering with tears. ‘I was so worried.’ She wrapped her arms around Rose again.

‘I’m sorry. I am so sorry,’ Rose whispered, kissing the top of Luisa’s head, making a decision there and then as she added: ‘But I was never in any danger.’

Luisa pulled back, looking up at Rose, confused. ‘You were never in any danger? You just blindly chased after a criminal!’

‘That is sort of what I do,’ Rose said softly.

‘You fight criminals in court, that is not the same thing,’ Luisa said.

Rose took a deep breath. If she wasn’t going to tell Luisa now, after scaring her half to death, she never was, and Luisa didn’t deserve that.

‘Luisa, I’m the Red Diamond,’ Rose said, biting her lip as Luisa’s eyes went wide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as a cliffhanger? It does right? So sorry. Again  
> I will try to update more regularly but my life is crazy right now and I can't make any promises.
> 
> Thank you for reading, comments would be very much appreciated and are always very motivating!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The resolve to my evil, evil cliffhanger from the last time, enjoy!
> 
> TW: Blood, Violence, Guns and Rape mention.

As Luisa stared at her in disbelief and shock, Rose was somehow reminded of when she had come out to her parents as gay when she was 15. Only this was somehow even more nerve-wracking.

Behind Luisa’s dark eyes, Rose could see thoughts racing at a 1000 miles a minute, all the missing pieces and lies of the last couple of months falling into place.

‘What… What are you saying?’ Luisa stammered. ‘You’re…?’

Rose nodded. ‘I’ll explain, but not here,’ she whispered, looking at the police officer making his way over to them.

‘Is everything okay?’ the cop asked.

‘Yes, everything is fine, officer,’ Rose smiled.  ‘We’re both alright.’

‘Your girlfriend said you ran after the thief?’

‘Yes, I wanted to get a good look at him but I didn’t,’ Rose said regretfully, tangling her fingers together with Luisa’s limp one.

‘We do recommend you do not chase after the criminals yourself. If you give us your statement, we will do the chasing for you.’

‘I will remember that for the next time,’ Rose smiled. ‘Right now I think it would be best if we went home and put this behind us.’

‘Yes, we will contact you if we find anything,’ the police officer nodded.

‘Thank you, officer,’ Rose nodded, knowing fully well they would never find the guy. She had been the best bet at catching him, but she’d failed. ‘Come on, let’s go home,’ she whispered to Luisa.

On the walk home Luisa’s stunned silence took on an angry edge, which Rose had expected. By telling the truth now, she had unearthed four months of lies.

‘Talk,’ Luisa bit out as they entered her apartment, slamming the door closed behind her.

Over the last year Rose had stared a lot of dangerous criminals in the face, but she was more frightened now looking at her angry girlfriend than she had been when facing a gun. Because unlike a gun, Luisa actually had the ability to hurt her.

They loved each other, they had established that today, but her lies might be too much for their relatively new relationship to handle and it could break them up. Which she desperately wanted to avoid.

This was why she hadn’t been able to tell Luisa the truth, but that inability to talk was the reason Luisa’s arms were currently folded tightly across her chest and her eyebrows drawn together in anger and suspicion.

‘I’m the Red Diamond,’ Rose repeated, not knowing how else to start.

‘You’re telling me you are the masked vigilante running around town in the middle of the night beating up criminals?’

‘Yes,’ Rose nodded, fidgeting with her hands behind her back.

‘Why? Why the hell would you do that? Do you even know what you are doing? Or do you just walk up to criminals and hope they don’t kill you?’ Luisa said, her voice getting progressively louder.

‘Luisa…’ Rose started, but Luisa cut her off before she could get to the fact that she was bulletproof.

‘You’re an ADA! What made you think you could do this?! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you insane? You go out there night after night beating up men twice your size with _guns_! Guns, Rose! Do you have a death wish?’ Luisa ranted, her tone both angry and hopeless as she started to pace across the room.

‘Luisa, please let me explain,’ Rose said, gingerly grabbing Luisa’s wrist to stop her pacing.

‘Explain what?’ Luisa said, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up. ‘How you go chase death every night while I’m asleep?’

‘I’m never in any real danger,’ Rose shushed, pulling Luisa on the couch with her, it was better if she sat down for the next part.

‘Oh,’ Luisa scoffed. ‘So now you’re not just insane, you’re also delusional.’

‘You know that article you read this morning, about the two thugs saying the Red Diamond, _I_ , was bulletproof?’

Luisa nodded slowly, not sure where Rose was going with this.

‘They were right. I am,’ Rose said, watching Luisa carefully as she did so. She had never told this to another human being before.

‘What?’ Luisa breathed, disbelief and confusion coloring her tone. ‘That’s impossible.’

‘It should be, but it’s not,’ Rose said, looking down at her hands.

‘Humans aren’t bulletproof, that’s crazy. _You’re_ crazy,’ Luisa muttered, defeated, staring at Rose with wild eyes.

Not knowing what else to do Rose got up of the couch and pulled a knife from a kitchen drawer.

‘What are you doing?’ Luisa yelled panicked as she flew off the couch, wrapping her hand around Rose’s wrist to stop her.

‘Proving to you I’m bulletproof,’ Rose said.

‘Rose…’ Luisa said, her eyes pleading. And Rose could see Luisa did truly believe that she was going crazy. Hell, it _was_ crazy. But it was also the truth.

‘Do you trust me?’ Rose asked, putting the knife down for now, not wanting to traumatize Luisa even further.

‘Until 30 minutes ago, yes,’ Luisa sighed, looking at Rose with concern and doubt in her eyes.

‘Please trust me. I swear I’m telling the truth,’ Rose pleaded.

She could see Luisa hesitate as she picked the knife back up, pressing it lightly against the palm of her left hand.

‘I can’t watch you hurt yourself,’ Luisa said, a tear rolling down her cheek, as she half turned around, eyes raised to the ceiling.

‘I promise I’m not,’ Rose said.

Luisa bit her lip, watching the knife on Rose’s hand. ‘You’re insane,’ she said softly, the fight was gone from her voice. ‘Do it,’ she nodded.

Luisa hissed as Rose drew the knife across her palm, expecting blood to well up out of what would have been a deep cut on anyone else.

‘See?’ Rose said, showing her undamaged hand to Luisa, the red line left by the pressure she had put on the knife already fading.

‘That’s- that’s not possible,’ Luisa said, looking at Rose with something akin to shock. ‘How is that possible?’ she said, running her fingers over Rose’s palm, checking for injuries, finding none. ‘How Rose?’ she asked.

‘I am not sure,’ Rose shrugged. ‘Do you remember when I told you I had been in an accident?’

_12 Months Ago_

_Rose put her hands on her thighs as she tried to get her breathing back under control. She checked her watch and saw she had indeed run a personal best. Smiling, she straightened out, stretching her arms above her head and kicking out her legs._

_She started walking, not wanting to cool down too much. She ran this route every week, and even if it was mostly an industrial area, she would never not be amazed by the sun shimmering on the ocean’s surface._

_The sun glittering on the ocean was the last thing she remembered as a loud BANG blew her off her feet and pain burned throughout her body._

‘When you said “accident” I assumed you meant a minor car accident, not an explosion,’ Luisa said, accepting the cup of tea Rose had made for her with shaking hands.

‘Will you just let me tell the story?’ Rose smiled, sitting down next to Luisa on the couch.

‘Yes, continue,’ Luisa said, blowing on the surface of her cup.

Rose brushed a lock of hair away from Luisa’s face, she knew it was a lot to process, but now she had started talking, she didn’t want to stop before Luisa knew the whole truth.

‘I woke up in the hospital a couple of days later. I couldn’t remember anything from what happened after. So the doctor filled me in. Remember the explosion in that watch factory?’

‘Yes, it was all over the news. Gas explosion, right?’

‘Right,’ Rose nodded. ‘The doctor told me they had found me in the rubble nearby, bruised and bloody. All I knew was that every move hurt and I was cold, so very cold.’

_‘Feeling cold is normal, Ms. Ruvelle,’ the doctor said as he looked up from his clipboard. ‘You lost a lot of blood, your body is working to replace it. Any other questions?’_

_‘What’s my prognosis?’ Rose croaked, her voice rough from disuse._

_‘Good, you have some minor cuts and scrapes on your body but all of those will heal. We are most concerned about your head injury, as you were in a coma for a couple of days, but your cognitive function seems alright. You will probably be good to go home in a couple of days, we’re just keeping you here for observation and to change your bandages. You’re expected to make a full recovery with no lasting damages.’_

‘Well, he was right about that,’ Rose said, taking a drink from her tea.

‘So when did you first know something had changed?’ Luisa asked, still running her fingers over Rose’s left palm, tracing the line where the skin hadn’t broken.

‘When they changed my bandages, the small cuts had completely disappeared, not even leaving a scar in their place. The nurse thought it was strange but not strange enough to alert one of the doctors. The next time they changed them all cuts and bruises were gone, nothing left to even show I’d been the hospital. And even stranger, the scars I’d had _before_ the accident also disappeared. I had one on my upper lip here,’ Rose said, brushing against the spot a scar had been since a bicycle accident when she was 9, but found only smooth skin in its place. ‘And when I got out of the hospital it was gone.’

‘So you heal super fast?’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ Rose shrugged. ‘I do probably heal faster, you’ve seen how fast hickeys fade, but it is more that my skin is super strong.’

‘So how did you find that out?’ Luisa asked. ‘I hope you didn’t just slice a knife across your palm to check,’ she said as she looked at Rose sternly.

‘Not at first, no,’ Rose said, a little hesitant to tell Luisa this part of the story.

Luisa, picking up on this hesitance, narrowed her eyes. ‘What happened, Rose?’

‘Armed robbery…’

‘WHAT!? How were you part of an armed robbery?’

‘Bad luck?’ Rose said sheepishly. ‘I was just getting groceries. I didn’t plan on it!’

_‘Hands in the air and nobody move!’ the man yelled, waving his gun around like it was a toy._

_Rose tensed, obeying with the robber’s wishes as he instructed the cashier to hand him the contents of the register._

_Her eyes drifted from the masked man to the small girl in the same aisle as her._

_Rose estimated her to be about 5 years old – she was terrible at guessing children’s ages – and on the verge of a panic attack._

_‘Shh, it’s okay. We’re going to be okay,’ she whispered to the child, taking a cautious step forward to shield the girl from harm if the gunman decided that just waving the gun around wasn’t enough._

_‘Hey! What’s going on back there?’ the gunman yelled aiming the gun right at her._

_‘Nothing,’ Rose said, pacifyingly putting her hands up as she turned towards the gunman, taking a step to the left to child entirely from his view. But in doing this she kicked a fallen can right into a metal rack, making an awful loud noise, startling the robber, who was apparently so on edge he had no other choice but to pull the trigger._

_The gunshot echoed through the store, and for a second Rose thought he had somehow missed her, but then pain blossomed in her chest, knocking the air from her lungs._

_As she doubled over people started screaming and the robber, deciding things had gotten a little too hot for him, ran out._

_To her surprise the pain faded, but she attributed it to shock._

_She raised a shaking hand to her chest, expecting it to come away red and sticky with blood. But there was nothing._

_‘Are you okay?’ an older woman asked as she approached her. ‘Did he hit you?’_

_‘No, no I don’t think he did,’ Rose said slowly, shaking her head. She knew he had hit her. She had felt the bullet slam into her and force the air from her lungs, but now there was no blood and no pain. So something must have stopped the bullet._

_‘Thank god,’ the woman said._

_‘Mommy!’ the little girl said, appearing from behind Rose to hug her mother who was on the other side of the store._

_‘Thank you!’ the woman said. ‘For protecting her,’_

_‘No problem,’ Rose smiled. ‘Didn’t want anyone to get hurt.’_

‘And after giving my statement I went home to take a hot shower, and while undressing I found this,’ Rose said, digging into her pocket and pulling out a warped piece of metal.

‘What’s that?’ Luisa asked, taking the piece of metal from Rose’s hand.

‘The bullet. That and the hole in my shirt sort of proved that something had stopped it from killing me.’

‘And I guess you weren’t wearing a bulletproof vest, huh?’

‘No, I was not.’

‘So how did you take it?’

‘Only marginally worse than you did,’ Rose smiled.

‘So how did you figure that you stopping a bullet meant that you were actually bulletproof?’ Luisa asked, turning the bullet over in her hand.

‘Dinner that night,’ Rose said, hesitant to tell Luisa this next part too, not because it might scare her, but because it was embarrassing.

‘What did you do?’

‘I cut myself chopping carrots,’ Rose said sheepishly. ‘Only I _didn’t_ cut myself and that freaked me out and I stumbled against the stove, which caused my sleeve to catch fire. I just didn’t notice at first and thought it was nice and warm.’

‘Oh my god!’ Luisa laughed. ‘You set yourself on fire?’

‘Yes,’ Rose admitted, hiding her face in her hands. ‘And nothing, no pain, no scars, just a hotter than usual sensation.’

‘So you’re really bulletproof, huh?’ Luisa said, accepting the facts in front of her and knowing no other conclusion was possible.

‘It seems so,’ Rose sighed.

‘So you figured that out and decided to become a vigilante? Or a superhero as you actually _have_ superpowers?’

‘No, not initially. At first I was just freaked out and ignored it. But then something happened at work. A woman whose case I was handling, she’d been raped. And the evidence against her rapist was staggering. He did it, he had taped himself doing it. And the judge threw out the tape because it was unfairly prejudicial. A tape of him actually _perpetrating_ the crime, the crime that ruined this young woman’s life, was called unfairly prejudicial,’ Rose said as she shook her head, it still made her angry. ‘And afterwards the woman came up to me, she was crying, saying there was nothing I could have done, that guys like him would always stay out of jail. And at that moment I realized that there was something else I could do. I could catch him in another crime and make sure he went away for it this time. I was not going to let him ruin another woman’s life,’ Rose said bitterly.

‘So you just went out and beat him up?’ Luisa asked, having picked up on Rose’s tone and softly rubbing up and down her arms.

‘No, I took some self-defense classes. Boxing, Krav Maga, that sort of thing. Then I went after him.’

‘Well, I am glad you didn’t go after criminals completely untrained,’ Luisa laughed, just a hint of unhappiness remaining.

‘And that’s how I became the Red Diamond,’ Rose said, meeting Luisa’s eyes again.

‘I am still having trouble believing it,’ Luisa sighed, shifting in her seat a little.

‘Yeah, it’s a lot to take in,’ Rose said, brushing a strand of hair out of Luisa’s face.

‘Were you ever going to tell me?’ Luisa asked softly. ‘If I hadn’t been robbed today, would you ever have told me?’

‘I was working up to it,’ Rose sighed. ‘I didn’t know how to tell you, which is why things came out so clumsily today. I was scared you wouldn’t want to be with anymore.’

‘Why wouldn’t I want to be with you anymore?’ Luisa asked, intertwining her hand with Rose’s, squeezing it softly.

‘Because I lied to you. Because I’m a freak of nature,’ Rose sighed.

‘You told me the truth now. And I already told you what I would do to someone who was bulletproof,’ Luisa husked as she swung herself into Rose’s lap, smirking predatorily.

‘Luisa, I am definitely not against this development,’ Rose said, putting her hands on Luisa’s hips. ‘But are you sure you are okay with this, with me, with everything?’

‘Yes, I love you. And I don’t like you felt like you had to lie to me, but I understand. And I also really like the fact that I get to top Miami’s favorite superhero,’ Luisa purred.

‘You don’t always get to top,’ Rose husked.

‘Mmmh, yes I do,’ Luisa grinned, nipping at Rose’s lips before pulling her in for a deep kiss.

* * *

‘We still haven’t had dinner,’ Rose smiling, combing her fingers through Luisa’s hair.

‘Well, things happened,’ Luisa sighed.

‘Oh my god! You were just robbed! I completely forgot to ask you about that. Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine. He just took my bag. I will have to replace my phone and a couple of credit cards. Not a big deal,’ Luisa said as she rested her head on Rose’s chest. ‘I was more worried about you, rushing after that criminal like you were the Red Diamond, which I guess you are.’

‘I’m sorry, I really wasn’t thinking,’ Rose whispered, kissing the top of Luisa’s head.

‘It’s okay. You’re okay, I’m okay and everything is out in the open. At least I have an answer to where you go at night. I never bought your insomnia thing.’

‘Would you have believed it if I told you I was out fighting criminals?’ Rose smiled, feeling so much lighter now Luisa knew.

‘I would probably have called you insane. I’m sorry for that by the way. I shouldn’t have called you crazy,’ Luisa said, looking truly remorseful.

‘It’s okay,’ Rose smiled, brushing a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear. ‘I would have called me insane too.’

‘I love you,’ Luisa whispered.

‘I love you, too,’ Rose smiled.

‘When I wake up, will you be here or will you be out fighting criminals?’ Luisa asked, her voice already growing heavy with sleep.

‘I’ll be here. I think I’ve done enough crime fighting for one day,’ Rose whispered, kissing the top of Luisa’s head.

Pretty soon Luisa’s breathing evened out, and while Rose might not be an actual insomniac, she still couldn’t fall asleep.

A lot had changed in the last 24 hours. Basically everything had changed. Luisa loved her, Luisa knew she was the Red Diamond and Luisa knew she was bulletproof, and yet she was still here, in her arms.

‘Move in with me,’ Rose whispered, stroking Luisa’s hair.

‘Mmmh?’ the other murmured, apparently not all the way asleep yet.

‘Move in with me,’ Rose repeated.

‘Okay, but tomorrow. Sleep now,’ Luisa yawned, nestling herself securely in Rose’s arms, being the little spoon for once.

‘Tomorrow is perfect,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa’s shoulder. ‘I love you.’

Luisa mumbled something Rose took to mean: love you too.

* * *

‘That’s not your color,’ Luisa said as she stepped out of the bathroom and found Rose standing in front of her sizeable closet, holding a reddish blouse up to her chest. ‘Try this one,’ she said as she exchanged the one in Rose’s hand with a pale pink one.

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled. ‘I have no clean clothes at your place and I cannot wear yesterday’s blouse.’

‘Why not?’ Luisa smirked as picked her own outfit for the day.  

‘You know why not,’ Rose laughed. ‘It no longer has half of its buttons.’

‘Mmh, I wonder how that happened,’ Luisa mused, smiling innocently as she tapped her chin with her index finger.

‘You’re not fooling anyone, dear. Now come on, get dressed. We have to get to work,’ Rose said, pecking Luisa on the cheek as she walked into the kitchen, pouring them both a cup of coffee.

‘Jesus Rose, don’t do that!’ Luisa yelled as Rose brought the cup of steaming coffee to her lips.

‘Don’t do what?’ Rose asked, a little startled by Luisa’s outburst.

‘Drink boiling hot coffee,’ Luisa said, gingerly taking the cup from Rose’s hand.

‘You do realize I set myself on fire with no harm to my person, right? I can drink hot coffee.’

‘Right, bulletproof,’ Luisa said as she remembered. ‘That’s going to take some getting used to…’

Rose smiled at her supportively. Luisa was a doctor, a scientist, until yesterday she had known exactly how the world worked, and now the laws of physics and biology had changed. It was bound to have an effect on her.

‘Apart from me drinking too hot coffee and taking too hot showers you probably won’t notice it much,’ Rose smiled, tilting Luisa’s chin up and pulling her in for a sweet kiss.

‘You’re still you,’ Luisa smiled. ‘So your place tonight? I heard you say something about moving in together last night,’ Luisa smiled.

‘So you did hear that,’ Rose smiled.

‘I did,’ Luisa said, her face momentarily getting serious. ‘You did mean it, right? Because I can wait.’

‘No, I meant it. I want you to move in with me, or I with you. It doesn’t matter. I just want to be with you.’

‘We’ll talk about it,’ Luisa smiled. ‘But for now your place is fine. And besides, I want to see you in your costume.’

‘Do you now?’ Rose grinned.

‘I am sure you’ve heard me say how hot I think the Red Diamond is. Now is my chance to see her up close,’ Luisa smirked.

‘Work first, dress-up later,’ Rose smiled, feeling complete happy and at ease for the first time in weeks, everything was out in the open and everything was okay.

‘You’re no fun,’ Luisa pouted.

‘No, I’m the Red Diamond,’ Rose smiled, adopting a superhero stance that earned her a poke in the ribs from Luisa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no cliffhanger this week, which is breaking tradition but short of having a group of ninja's appear in Luisa's apartment I couldn't swing one this chapter. 
> 
> I hope you liked the reveal and Rose's origin story (my notes for her origin story were so salty, I mean, the universe tried to kill the lesbian not once but twice and she survived, go Rose!) 
> 
> If you liked it please leave a comment, they help me stay impervious to writer's block!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of writer's block for the last couple of weeks, not in the least because I started playing Pokémon Sun and it distracted me from writing. But on this last day of the year, I thought I owed you all at least one chapter. So enjoy! Hope superhero Rose and her not-so-sidekick Luisa make this year a little better!
> 
> Happy New Year everyone!

Rose tapped her fingers on her thigh, looking at the black duffel sitting in the middle of her dining room table.

At work today she’d had some time to process everything that happened they day before. She was glad Luisa knew. Of course she was glad, there were no more secrets between them. Luisa knew who she was, _what_ she was, and she was still there. She still wanted to move in with her.

But there was something about looking at the Red Diamond’s stuff sitting on her table, out in the open with the knowledge Luisa was about to get home that made her stomach twist.

A knock on her door startled her.

‘Rose?’ Luisa called out. ‘You home yet?’

‘One moment!’ Rose yelled back, in a flash of insecurity snatching the bag off the table and dumping it behind the couch.

‘I need a key if I am going to live here,’ Luisa smiled, peeking out from behind a potted plant she was carrying with some other things in a cardboard box.

‘Already ahead of you,’ Rose smiled. ‘Freshly cut,’ she said as she produced a second key to her apartment. ‘Let me help you with that,’ she said as she took the box from Luisa.

‘The bulletproof skin didn’t make you super strong, right?’ Luisa asked.

‘I don’t think so,’ Rose shrugged.

‘Interesting,’ Luisa nodded. ‘So do you have a weakness? Like one spot you are vulnerable? An Achilles’ heel of some kind?’

‘What’s with the 20 questions? And if I have one, I haven’t found it yet.’

‘Just trying to understand the extend of your powers. Aren’t you curious? I have been thinking about it all day. Obviously something in that factory explosion caused this. Or maybe the physical trauma awakened some dormant genetics in you. Or maybe…’

‘Luisa,’ Rose said, putting her hands on Luisa’s biceps. ‘I am glad you are taking this so well. But I don’t have any answers. I don’t know where my powers came from, I don’t know if I am going to wake up one morning and find that they are gone. I don’t know, okay?’ she said exasperated as she turned away.

‘Are you okay?’ Luisa asked concernedly.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Rose sighed.

‘No, you’re not. I can tell,’ Luisa said, pulling Rose onto the couch with her. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I don’t know,’ Rose sighed, resting her head in her hands. ‘I am not the one that should be freaking out about this. I have lived with this for a year now. And you’re so calm and supportive and I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about what I would do if my powers disappeared.’

‘They probably won’t,’ Luisa said, stroking up and down Rose’s arm. ‘Details is just how I make sense of things. But it is okay if you don’t have any. We can figure it out together. Or not. It doesn’t matter. You’re you, powers or not.’

‘I love you,’ Rose smiled, feeling her anxiety slip away as she rested her head on Luisa’s shoulder.

‘I love you too,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose’s temple. ‘Now want to help me unpack?’

‘Do you really need my help with that, though?’ Rose grinned. ‘Most of your stuff is already here. I should almost ask you to clean out drawer for me,’ she teased.

‘I brought some fun things from my place I thought you might enjoy,’ Luisa purred.

Rose bit her lip. ‘Yeah, I’ll help with that,’ she nodded, following Luisa into the bedroom.

* * *

‘So can I see the costume?’ Luisa asked, running her finger up and down Rose’s spine.

‘I’m not sure I’m into that kind of roleplay,’ Rose joked, turning around and staring at the ceiling.

‘You might be surprised,’ Luisa teased, raising herself up on her elbows, tilting Rose’s chin so she had to look at her. ‘Rose?’

‘Yeah, let me just go get it,’ Rose said as she padded into the living room on bare feet, retrieving the bag from where she had stashed it behind the couch earlier.

‘Is that where you hid it? Because if it is, I am feeling pretty stupid for not figuring it out earlier,’ Luisa said from her spot in the bedroom doorway, watching her with a soft smile.

‘No, I normally hide it in the closet but I put it behind the couch for easy access,’ Rose said as straightened up. Not even convincing herself, let alone Luisa, who know her better than anyone.

‘What’s up with you today? You no longer have to hide it from me.’

Rose sighed, falling down on the couch with a huff. ‘I don’t know. I guess I was just really into the whole secret identity thing.’

‘Aren’t you into the not lying to your girlfriend thing?’ Luisa asked, rubbing Rose’s arm.

‘I am. I am glad you know. I hated lying to you. But I don’t know what to do now. How to deal with you knowing. Before it was just me.’

‘Well, nothing is going to change. You will still go out and beat up criminals. Only now I don’t think you’re sneaking out at night to see your other girlfriend.’

‘You thought I was cheating on you?’ Rose asked, her heart sinking in her chest.

‘Just for a while. I realized that that probably wasn’t the case when you started sneaking out of your own apartment at night too.’

‘And you didn’t say anything?’

‘We hadn’t been seeing each other long. I wasn’t any of my business.’

‘I would never cheat on you, Luisa,’ Rose said. ‘I promise.’

‘I know,’ Luisa smiled, brushing a lock of hair behind Rose’s ear. ‘So, are you afraid I am going to laugh at your costume?’

‘It is not nearly as impressive when you see it in person. It is truly better off in a blurry photograph,’ Rose said, the corners of her lips pulling up into a smile.

‘I’ll be the judge of that. Now don the cape and cowl, Red Diamond. I need to see a close up,’ Luisa said, smacking Rose on the ass and pushing her into the bedroom.

‘Lu!’ Rose laughed.

‘Put it on! I will be waiting here,’ Luisa said, looking at Rose expectantly.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Rose said, shaking her head but getting dressed none the less.

There was really nothing special about her clothes, they were just black and mostly riddled with bullet holes as she hadn’t yet had time to replace them.

It was the mask that made the outfit into a superhero costume, it was matte black and molded perfectly to her face so it stayed up on its own.

She decided not to line her eyes with greasepaint right now, because it was just hard to get off and Luisa knew who she was anyway. _And Luisa knew who she was anyway._ That was a new one, but Rose thought she could get used to it.

And yet she couldn’t help but nervously tap her baton against her knee as she had her hand on the doorknob. This part of her life had been a secret for so long, and she felt strange sharing it with someone, but she was glad that someone was Luisa. Luisa already knew more about her than anyone else in her life did, so it felt good to share this with Luisa.

‘Alright, I’m ready,’ Rose said. ‘And don’t laugh.’

‘I would never laugh,’ Luisa said, already smiling as Rose walked out the door.

‘Told you it was nothing special,’ Rose said, self-consciously running a hand through her hair.

‘You look very menacing with the mask,’ Luisa said, advancing on her slowly. ‘And in the dark I bet you look near invisible. The bad guys not knowing what hit them until they see a flash of red.’

‘I’m not batman, Luisa,’ Rose laughed as Luisa seemed awed by her costume.

‘No, you are much hotter and much less moody. So do you go out saving damsels in distress at night?’ Luisa said, looping her arms around Rose’s neck. ‘And should I be jealous?’

‘I haven’t yet saved anybody, so you don’t have to be jealous,’ Rose smiled, resting her hands on Luisa’s hips.

‘But when you do, should I be? I mean, how can anyone resist this? I am sure you have your own little following of women desperate to sleep with you. Like Lois Lane with Superman.’

‘You’re my Lois Lane,’ Rose smiled, taking off her mask so she could kiss Luisa, only Luisa wasn’t having that.

‘Show me your moves,’ Luisa smiled as she stepped out of Rose’s reach.

‘Why?’ Rose laughed.

‘Because I want to see the Red Diamond in action,’ Luisa said, smiling like a child on Christmas Morning.

‘There is nothing here for me to fight,’ Rose said, collapsing her baton.

‘You can fight me,’ Luisa said, still smiling.

‘I am not going to fight you!’ Rose laughed.

‘Why not?’ Luisa pouted. ‘I want to fight the Red Diamond,’ she said, adopting a boxer’s stance and punching the air a couple of times.

‘I don’t want to hurt you, Luisa,’ Rose said.

‘Oh come on! Please?’

‘Fine, come at me,’ Rose said, dropping her batons to the ground, beckoning Luisa over with a teasing grin.

‘What if I hurt you?’ Luisa said, momentarily lowering her hands.

‘You saw what the knife did, or did not do. And it is cute you think you are actually going to hit me,’ Rose grinned.

‘Oh, you’re on!’ Luisa said, stepping forward and throwing a right hook at Rose’s face, which she easily caught before it reached her face, twisting Luisa’s arm behind her back and pulling her against her.

‘I win,’ Rose breathed against Luisa’s ear.

‘Did you?’ Luisa smiled as she pushed up on her toes, brushing a soft kiss against the underside of Rose jaw, weakening her grip as she momentarily got distracted by the shivers racing up her spine.

Luisa made use of the moment by twisting free of Rose’s grasp, immediately counter-attacking by jumping on Rose’s shoulder, toppling them both to the ground.

‘I win,’ Luisa smiled, leaning in to claim her kiss in victory.

‘You win,’ Rose smiled, normally she hated losing, but she would gladly lose to Luisa every day.

‘So what does the Red Diamond wear underneath her clothes?’ Luisa husked, running her fingers over Rose’s leather jacket, her smile momentarily hardening as she encountered a bullet hole, but then continuing on like nothing had happened.

‘Why don’t you find out?’ Rose breathed.

‘Oh, I plan to,’ Luisa grinned, unzipping Rose’s jacket, making Rose sit up so she could slip it off her shoulders. ‘Have I ever told you how much I like it when you wear simple clothes like this?’ Luisa said, running her hands down Rose’s sides towards the hem of the shirt.

‘No, you haven’t,’ Rose smiled. ‘So I should just stop wearing skirts, dresses and blouses then and go with dollar store t-shirts then?’

‘Don’t get me wrong, I love you all dressed up for work in your sharp skirts and silk blouses, and in your _really_ pretty dresses for our dates. But when you’re dressed in jeans and shirts and sweaters you just look so comfortable and I just want to lean back in your arms and nap.’

‘Is napping really what you want to do right now?’ Rose smiled, running her own hands up underneath Luisa’s shirt.

‘No, not really,’ Luisa grinned, pulling Rose’s shirt over her head, laughing as she found another identical shirt underneath.

‘I get cold,’ Rose shrugged.

‘I know you do,’ Luisa laughed, helping Rose out of this shirt as well, sighing and shaking her head as she found another shirt underneath this one. ‘You are ridiculous.’

‘You love me,’ Rose laughed, getting rid of the rest of her shirts.

‘I do,’ Luisa smiled, leaning in to kiss Rose.

* * *

‘So what now?’ Luisa asked as she threw their take-out containers in the trash. ‘Are you going out tonight?’

‘Yes,’ Rose nodded, rinsing off their plates. ‘Someone has to keep the city safe. And I have been slacking lately.’

‘You had to catch up on some sleep, Miss nine-cups-of-coffee-a-day. The city understands.’

‘I will try to be home at a reasonable hour tonight,’ Rose smiled, pecking Luisa on the cheek.

‘You are not leaving now, are you?’ Luisa asked. ‘It’s not even dark out.’

‘I’m not,’ Rose smiled, wrapping her arms around Luisa, Luisa resting her head on her shoulder. ‘How about we watch TV for a bit?’

‘Yeah, I’d like that,’ Luisa nodded.

As they settled in on the couch, it became clear to Rose that Luisa was a little more tactile then she normally was. She had molded herself against Rose’s side, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder, playing with her hair, her hand on her leg, just sitting close by, always touching.

‘Let’s go to bed,’ Rose whispered, as Luisa’s eyes started to droop.

‘I want to see you off,’ Luisa yawned.

‘I will go sleep for an hour or so, too,’ Rose smiled, scooping Luisa up bridal style and carrying her to her bed, their bed now.

‘Wake me up when you leave, okay?’ Luisa hummed, curling herself around Rose as she joined her in bed.

‘I will,’ Rose promised, kissing Luisa sweetly on the lips. ‘Now go sleep.’

* * *

‘Lu, Luisa, wake up,’ Rose whispered softly, stroking Luisa’s cheek. She hadn’t really wanted to interrupt Luisa’s sleep for this, but she had promised her she would. Tonight would be the first night in their relationship where Rose wouldn’t sneak out unnoticed, tonight Luisa would know where she was, and it made her feel much better.

‘Hmm, what?’ Luisa said sleepily.

‘I’m going out,’ Rose whispered, brushing a lock of Luisa’s hair away from her face. ‘You told me to wake you.’

Luisa was suddenly wide awake. ‘Right, yes. My girlfriend is going out to beat up some criminals tonight,’ she smiled, looking up and down Rose’s fully dressed form. ‘Do you know where you are going?’

‘Just going to wander around the city for a bit, help those who need help, beat up those who need beating up.’

‘Alright,’ Luisa nodded. ‘Just be careful, okay? I know you are bulletproof and all, but just promise me you will still be careful.’

‘I am always careful, now go sleep. I will be back before you know it,’ Rose smiled.

‘Kiss,’ Luisa said, looping her arms around Rose’s neck and pulling her in for a kiss. ‘Go get them, babe.’

‘I will,’ Rose said, she knew exactly who she was going after.

* * *

Rose had already scoured the police database for anyone who even slightly fit the profile of their purse-snatcher, but had come up with nothing. Her guy wasn’t familiar with the police, which left her with absolutely zero leads as to who he was and where he could have gone.

Usually purse-snatchers were not very high on her to-do list, but this one had dared to touch Luisa, and she wanted him off the street. But she didn’t have any leads, none of Luisa’s credit cards had been used, and no other traces of any of her stuff had been found, so Rose decided it was best to move on. But that didn’t mean she was going to forget about him.

She usually worked alone, but there was only so much she could figure out in the courtroom for herself. So she had a couple of informants in the city who kept an eye on thing for her, people who had testified for her in the courtroom, people she could trust.

And because she didn’t have another plan for the day she decided to pay one a visit. She made her way through the city, sticking the shadows and back alleys.

She knocked a rhythm on a steel door in an empty alley, waiting for it to open.

‘What’s the password?’ a voice asked, muffled from behind the door.

‘We don’t have a password,’ Rose smiled.

‘Correct!’ the voice said enthusiastically, opening the door. ‘Hey R, or do I call you Red Diamond now?’

‘R is fine,’ Rose smiled. ‘How are you, Danni?’

‘I’m good,’ the young woman smiled. ‘Managing.’

‘Got something interesting for me?’ Rose asked.

‘Nothing much, have not heard anything about things you are interested in. Good job on that drug shipment, by the way.’

‘Thanks to your information,’ Rose smiled. Danni was a recovering drug addicted herself and had made it her own mission to help other people get better, which included helping Rose to get rid of as much of the stuff before it hit the streets.

‘There are a couple of low level dealers slinging bad stuff, but the cops are on that already.’

‘Do you know anything about a purse-snatcher running around here?’

‘Around here? Probably an addict.’

‘I don’t think he was an addict; he was in excellent shape. He outran me and scaled an 8-foot wall.’

‘I haven’t heard anything special about it, but I will keep my ear to the ground if you want.’

‘I would appreciate it, thank you.’

‘Sorry I wasn’t any help.’

‘Slow crime day, it happens,’ Rose smiled. ‘For your trouble,’ she said, producing a couple of banknotes, putting them down on the small table in the parlor.

‘I will keep an eye out for your thief,’ Danni smiled, pocketing the money.

‘Thank you, see you soon.’

Having nothing else to do, Rose made her way home, she had been out for a couple of fruitless hours anyway and she had promised Luisa she wouldn’t stay out too late anyway.

She smiled as she unlocked her door, only having taken off her mask as she made her way up. But Luisa knew who she was now, so there was no need to change in the alleyway next to her building.

She walked through the door, expecting Luisa to be vast asleep. And she was, just not in the bedroom.

The lights in their living room were on, and her girlfriend was curled up on the couch, a half finished cup of coffee sitting in front of her on the table.

‘Hey,’ Rose said, kneeling in front of Luisa, stroking her cheek.

‘Rose,’ Luisa said, relief evident in her voice.

‘Why are you up? Is everything okay?’ Rose asked, the words coming out mumbled because Luisa had wrapped her arms around her neck; hugging her tightly.

‘It is now,’ Luisa smiled watery, Rose seeing a single tear roll down her cheek as she pulled back from the hug.

Suddenly Luisa’s behavior; sleeping on the couch, the cup of coffee, her teary-eyed reception made sense.

‘Wait, Luisa, were you waiting up for me?’ Rose asked.

‘I wasn’t at first,’ Luisa said softly, tangling her fingers between Rose’s. ‘After you left I was trying to go back to sleep. But I kept thinking what if something happened to you while you were out there? What if you got hurt? Or somebody knocked you out and kidnapped you? What if you do have a weak spot and someone managed to find it by pure luck and you were laying there; shot, bleeding out. And I wouldn’t know about it until it was on the news. I couldn’t possibly sleep knowing you were out there in all kinds of danger,’ Luisa hiccupped, the tears rolling down her cheeks, her breathing ragged, and she had a near death-grip on Rose’s hand.

‘Shhh,’ Rose soothed, pulling her crying girlfriend into her lap, wrapping her arms around her shaking shoulders. ‘I’m okay. Nothing happened tonight. I just walked around, got some intel. I didn’t even get in a fist fight, let alone get shot at. It’s okay, Luisa. I’m fine.’

‘But that was just tonight,’ Luisa sniffed, wiping at her tears. ‘What if something happens tomorrow? Or the night after that? You are constantly putting yourself in danger, Rose. How could I not worry about you? I love you!’

‘I love you, too,’ Rose said, rubbing Luisa’s back to quiet her tears. She understood where Luisa was coming from, it just surprised her a little because she had been so comfortable with it earlier. ‘You really don’t have to worry about me. I am bulletproof, blows and bullets and knives just glance off me. I haven’t yet found a single spot on my body that isn’t as strong as the rest of it. And I am not going out there completely untrained, Luisa. I can handle myself. I have beaten men twice my size. You really don’t have to worry about me.’

‘I don’t know if I am ever not going to worry about you,’ Luisa sighed, her tears finally stopping.

‘It won’t do for us both not to sleep,’ Rose smiled.

‘I know,’ Luisa nodded. ‘I will try not to worry so much the next time. I know you can handle yourself.’

‘I will always make it home to you at the end of the night, I promise,’ Rose said, combing her fingers through Luisa’s hair, cupping her cheek. ‘Now let’s go to sleep. We have to be in three hours.’

‘You should shower first, you look like a raccoon,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Join me?’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa up with her. ‘The warm water will do you good.’

‘Yeah, I think I will,’ Luisa nodded, squeezing Rose’s hand.

Five minutes later they were standing underneath the hot spray, Luisa resting her head on Rose’s shoulder, her arms wrapped around her waist.

Rose kissed the side of Luisa’s head. They were both dead tired, physically and emotionally. A lot of things had changed that needed processing and it was very early in the morning. But Rose still felt happy.

She turned her face towards the spray, the makeup washing off her face.

‘Let me help,’ Luisa said, picking up a washcloth, removing any trace of the makeup from Rose’s face.

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled.

‘Now let’s go to bed, I think the caffeine from my coffee finally wore off and I am ready to collapse.’

‘I can’t believe you made coffee at 3 AM.’

‘It was so gross; I couldn’t make myself drink more than half a cup of it. I don’t understand how you drink more than one cup of coffee a day.’

‘Law school. Great practice for staying up the whole night.’

‘That is what all my friends who went to med school say as well. I just got through med school with superior intellect and a lot of vodka.’

Rose smiled. ‘Think of what you could do if you did drink caffeine,’ Rose joked.

‘I would rule the world.’

‘You would,’ Rose smiled, trying to put a shirt on but Luisa pulled it out of her hands.

‘If you’re cold you can just curl up with me. I want to hold you,’ Luisa smiled softly.

Rose nodded, crawling into bed. Luisa molding herself against her back, slinging her arm over her waist, pulling her close.

‘This way I know you are here and not in danger,’ Luisa whispered into Rose’s hair.

Rose smiled. ‘I don’t know; you might crush me when I fall asleep.’

‘Shut up,’ Luisa laughed, pinching Rose.

‘Hey! Auch!’ Rose laughed, twisting around in Luisa’s grip.

‘I love you,’ Luisa smiled.

‘I love you too. Just a little less when you pinch me.’

‘Oh, don’t whine. You’re bulletproof,’ Luisa said, smiling contently as she closed her eyes. ‘Goodnight, Red Diamond.’

‘Goodnight, sidekick.’

‘I am _not_ your sidekick,’ Luisa said, pinching Rose again. ‘You are mine.’

Rose laughed, there was definitely some truth in that statement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments would really make my year (ha ha)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! Another superhero chapter! This time with smut, because why not?
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose tried to be as quiet as possible as she got home that night, Luisa hadn’t been sleeping well all week and she didn’t want to wake her up, but it made no difference; she hadn’t even set two steps into the living room before Luisa appeared in their bedroom doorway like a vision, wearing one of Rose’s shirts.

‘You’re home,’ Luisa breathed, padding across the floor to hug Rose.

Rose stopped her at the last moment. ‘Don’t. I’m covered in blood.’

Luisa swallowed visibly. ‘What happened?’ she asked as she walked into the kitchen, wetting a towel underneath the faucet. Blanching only a little as she ran it over Rose’s face, cleaning away the blood.

‘I broke someone’s nose, he wasn’t happy about that so he head-butted me, hence the blood,’ Rose said as she motioned to her face.

‘Why did you break someone’s nose?’ Luisa asked, trying her hardest to make it sound like she was okay with this topic of conversation, but Rose could see the worry in her eyes.

‘His face got to close to my knee,’ Rose said, taking the towel from Luisa as she noticed her girlfriend’s hand shaking. ‘Go sleep, Luisa. I will take a quick shower and I will be right with you, okay?’ she whispered, smiling softly.

Luisa nodded, forcing a smile before crawling back into bed.

Rose took her quickest shower yet, just watching the blood from her hair and body, not wasting a second warming her body under the hot spray. She knew her staying out at night still bothered Luisa.

She quickly braided her wet hair, she didn’t have time to dry it and doing this would make it a little easier to handle in the morning.

‘Hey,’ Rose whispered as she crawled into bed next to Luisa, who had her back turned.

‘I can’t sleep, Rose,’ Luisa said as she turned around, burying her face in the crook of Rose’s neck. ‘When you’re out there, I can’t sleep.’

Rose had known that, it was hard to miss. Luisa had dark circles under her eyes and she had started drinking during the day even though she hated the taste just to stay awake.

‘I know. I know, baby,’ Rose whispered, combing her fingers through Luisa’s hair, kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

‘And I don’t know why. I know you’re not in danger. It’s just…’ Luisa couldn’t find the word she needed to describe how she felt.

‘You’re worried?’

‘I am _so_ worried about you,’ Luisa said. ‘Stabbing, shooting and killing you are not the only things these men can do to take you away from me. To hurt you.’

Rose knew that, she knew that while she was bulletproof there were other things criminals could do to her.

‘In order to harm me they have to catch me first. And I have a lifetime of gymnastic, years of running track and a very intensive training in different kinds of martial arts under my belt. I can handle myself, you have to trust me on that.’

‘I know. And I do. I trust you. But you’re out there fighting rapists and psychopaths and I can’t help but worry.’

‘Are you ever going to be okay with this?’ Rose asked tentatively.

‘I don’t know,’ Luisa said, meeting Rose’s eyes.

‘Do you want me to stop?’ Rose asked, not really wanting to know the answer to that question.

‘Honestly?’ Luisa asked, her eyes shining.

‘Yes, no judgement,’ Rose said firmly.

‘Selfishly I want you to stop. I want to remove the possibility of you getting hurt. But I can’t be selfish. The city needs you. You are actually changing things out there. And I can’t make you stop doing that just so I can rest easy.’

‘I can’t stop doing this, Luisa,’ Rose said, owing it to Luisa to be as honest as she had just been.

‘I know. So I won’t ask you to.’

‘But I want you to sleep. I can see I am hurting you, and that is the last thing I want.’

‘It will get better,’ Luisa promised. ‘But maybe you can stay home tomorrow? You have been out all nights this week. And we should catch up on some sleep before I leave for that conference Sunday evening.’

‘Of course,’ Rose said, hugging Luisa closer. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you, too.’ Luisa tilted her head to capture Rose’s lips in a sweet kiss.

‘Now sleep. I’m here. I’m safe. Let’s sleep,’ Rose whispered, the exhaustion of the night setting in for the both of them.

* * *

The following morning, Rose poured Luisa a cup of coffee, be it with great reluctance. But Luisa needed it to stay awake after sleeping only three hours last night.

‘Thank you,’ Luisa said tiredly.

‘I had an idea, to make you feel more at ease with me going out at night.’

‘Is it taking a valium and just not knowing you’re gone at night?’ Luisa sighed. ‘Because that is the only thing I can come up with.’

‘No, it isn’t that,’ Rose smiled. ‘But let’s remember that as a backup plan if this doesn’t work. I thought you might want to join me at the gym today and watch me spar? So you can see that even the biggest guy there can’t work me to the ground.’

‘Yeah, that might help ease my mind a bit,’ Luisa nodded thoughtfully, getting a hint of her smile back. Rose had missed that.

‘So get dressed and let’s go,’ Rose said, polishing off her coffee.

‘You mean now?’ Luisa said. ‘It’s Saturday morning.’

‘Yes, now. I’m already late and it will just be for a couple of hours.’

‘A couple of hours!? You better not expect me to work out.’

‘I don’t,’ Rose said, wrapping her arms around Luisa, attacking her with light kisses. ‘I know you don’t like working out.’

‘Glad we have that sorted out, you know I only like one type of working out,’ Luisa smirked, kissing Rose back. Making Rose smile as well.

>>>>>>>> 

‘So what do we start with?’ Luisa asked as she followed Rose around the gym.

‘Stretches and some cardio.’

‘Well, go ahead. I’ll be here, watching you,’ Luisa said happily as she sat down on a bench, making it very clear she was not going to do anything but watch.

Rose laughed, taking off her jacket and throwing it at Luisa, who didn’t have time to complain as the change left Rose only in yoga pants and a black sports bra. A combination Luisa had always been enamored by.

She did her warm-up like she usually did, not paying Luisa too much mind, but sometimes she could feel Luisa’s eyes on her, and she couldn’t help but tease a little and wink as she stretched.

After she was warmed up she walked over to the treadmill to do a short thirty-minute run, which she knew Luisa was going to find boring.

‘This is boring,’ Luisa sighed as she leaned on the treadmill, staring at Rose with her lovely brown eyes.

‘Just 20 more minutes,’ Rose panted.

‘Jogging is the worst, Rose,’ Luisa said as she climbed onto the treadmill next to her, setting it on a low walking speed. ‘I know it keeps you healthy, but god, at what cost?’

Rose rolled her eyes, leaning over to up the speed on Luisa’s console.

‘Hey!’ Luisa yelled, having started to jog in order to avoid being thrown off the machine. ‘Not nice, Rose!’ she said as she lowered the speed back down.

‘I thought you might join me for a mile or so,’ Rose grinned.

‘Never,’ Luisa said as she hopped off the treadmill, wandering back to her bench, spending the next twenty minutes of Rose’s run on her phone.

‘Come on,’ Rose said, taking her towel from Luisa, dabbing some of the sweat away from her face and neck before making her way to the ring in the middle of the room.

She greeted her usual sparring partner as she strapped into her protective gear, which she didn’t really need but wore anyway because otherwise the fact that she didn’t bruise or bleed would be found out really fast.

‘Is that the girl you’ve been telling us about?’ Ryan said as he beat his gloved hands together, motioning to Luisa who was watching with interest and slight hesitation from a bench near the side of the ring.

‘Yeah, that’s my girlfriend,’ Rose said, waving back as Luisa waved at her.

‘Sure she will still be your girlfriend after I handed your ass to you in the ring?’ Ryan boasted.

‘Your pre-match trash talk would be so much more effective if you had managed to beat me even once this year,’ Rose grinned.

‘You’re in for it now Ruvelle,’ Ryan grinned. ‘Babe! Come here! Kiss for good luck,’ Ryan called out, his equally muscled boyfriend making his way over from the weights section of the gym to climb up the side of the ring to kiss Ryan.

‘Go get him, Rose,’ Josh smirked as he smacked Ryan on the ass.

‘Thank you, Josh,’ Rose smiled.

‘So unfair. You can’t make everybody here fall in love with you,’ Ryan said as he pointed at her.

‘I just smell better than you do,’ Rose smiled.

‘Well, I’m ready if you are,’ Ryan said.

‘One moment,’ Rose said as she vaulted over the side of the ring. It was more for show than anything else, but she always did enjoy taunting Ryan a bit.

‘Are you sure you can take him?’ Luisa frowned as she watched Ryan. ‘He’s awfully muscly.’

Ryan _was_ very muscly, he was at least twice as wide as she was and a head taller. He was a mountain of a man and she could see why Luisa might be worried. But everybody else in the gym knew Ryan didn’t stand a chance, and now it was just time to make Luisa see that as well.

‘I can,’ Rose smiled. ‘I have done it before.’

‘Well, good luck,’ Luisa smiled, pulling Rose in for a soft kiss. ‘I believe in you.’

‘That’s all I need,’ Rose said as she hopped back into the ring, ready to fight.

The ref explained the rules and stepped away, starting their sparring session.

As soon as they started Rose forgot Luisa was watching her and just focused on her opponent. She knew Ryan, so she knew his style. He was all brawn, but he wasn’t very fast nor very agile, which was why Rose always won.

Rose dodged Ryan’s first punch, dropping down into a crouch to swipe at his feet with an outstretched leg, connecting with his ankle, but his weight prevented him from toppling to the ground.

‘Come on, Rose. You try that every week and it never works.’

‘I just keep hoping you lost weight so I can drop you to the floor,’ Rose smiled.

Rose got up from her crouch position, and soon all trash-talking stopped as both she and Ryan focused up. Throwing punches and kicks, dodging and sometimes taking a hit to throw one of their own.

They were pretty evenly matched and Rose became more aware that this was a fight to give Luisa more confidence in her being out on the street. So she doubled down, kicking the inside of Ryan’s knee as hard as she could, making him fall to the ground. She threw a fast punch at Ryan’s jaw, connecting beautifully and knocking him to the ground.

‘Dammit, I really thought I got you this time,’ Ryan said, massaging his jaw.

‘You’re getting better,’ Rose said as she helped him up. ‘I’m actually sweating right now.’

‘That’s just because your girl’s is watching you,’ Ryan said, motioning subtly to Luisa. ‘And I would say she’s suitably impressed.’

Rose looked over her shoulder, seeing Luisa stare at her in awe.

‘Good match,’ Rose said, bumping Ryan’s fist before taking off her gear and hopping out of the ring to go talk with Luisa.

‘That was incredible,’ Luisa smiled widely, handing Rose her towel. ‘You just punched him in the face and dropped him to the ground! You’re amazing!’

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled, glad her flush was hiding the fact that she was blushing. ‘So are you a little more at ease now?’

‘Yeah, if you can drop him, you can fight anyone.’

‘Glad you think so,’ Rose smiled, feeling more at ease now Luisa did.

‘You know what I also thought?’ Luisa whispered as she pushed up on her toes, her breath hot on the shell of Rose’s ear. ‘That it was very hot to watch you fight. To watch your muscles flex and your skin shine with sweat. And I very much want to introduce you to my favorite form of working out,’ Luisa husked, nibbling at Rose’s ear lobe before lowering back down. Hooking her finger in the waistband of Rose’s pants, pulling her towards the dressing room, making it _very_ clear to Rose what Luisa’s preferred form of working out was.

As soon as they walked into the locker room, Luisa jumped up, wrapping her legs around Rose’s waist. ‘Is there somewhere more private around here? Because I really can’t wait to tear this off of you,’ she said as toyed with the straps crisscrossing Rose’s back.

‘Showers,’ Rose breathed, trying to concentrate on walking, which was very hard as Luisa sucked and nipped at her throat. She half stumbled into a shower stall, grateful for the full floor to ceiling walls which made them harder to detect as Luisa unwrapped herself from her waist and dropped to the floor, peeling Rose’s pants down her legs.

‘You know,’ Luisa breathed. ‘Watching you fight would have been even better in shorts. You have gorgeous legs,’ Luisa husked, running her hands up the inside of Rose’s legs, massaging her inner thighs as she kissed down Rose’s abs.

‘Luisa, fuck,’ Rose moaned, her head slamming back against the door with a dull thud.

‘Mmmh, I’m getting there,’ Luisa grinned. ‘Take off your bra,’ she ordered. ‘And unbraid your hair, I want to tangle my hands in it later.’

Rose took off her bra as Luisa pulled her underwear down her legs, undoing her braid was going noticeably slower as Luisa spread her legs and parted her folds with a delicate stroke of her tongue.

If she had known this would happen she would have taken Luisa to watch her spar months ago.

‘You know, if you keep moaning like this we are going to be found out,’ Luisa smirked, licking her lips as she turned her dark eyes up at Rose.

That was when Rose remembered that while they were in a closed shower stall, they were still in a semi-public area and anyone could walk by and hear them.

‘Are you getting back at me for ruining your sleep?’ Rose said, biting her lip as she tried to stifle another moan as Luisa flicked her clit lightly. Luisa both knowing exactly what effect that had on her and how bad she was at keeping quiet while they had sex.

‘Not at all,’ Luisa said, her grin telling quite a different story.

‘Luisa, Lu, fuck,’ Rose said through clenched teeth as Luisa fucked her with her tongue.

Luisa’s response was to fuck her deeper and faster.

Rose bit her lip so hard that if she could draw blood, she would have.

‘Lu, please,’ Rose whimpered, raising a hand to her head as Luisa took her breath away better than any sparring session with Ryan ever could.

Luisa dug her fingers into Rose’s hips, running her tongue through Rose’s folds a couple of times, brushing against her clit every time.

‘God,’ Rose moaned, unable to keep quiet. Luisa was too good at what she did and she derived too much pleasure from teasing Rose.

Rose could feel the beginnings of an orgasm start to burn under her skin, spreading out from low in her belly up her chest and neck, tensing her muscles and rushing her breath.

‘Lu,’ Rose pleaded, needing just a small push to send her flying into what promised to be a great orgasm.

Luisa finally took pity on her and closed her lips tightly around Rose’s swollen clit and sucked, flicking her clit against it simultaneously.

‘Oh, fuck!’ Rose let out a strangled scream, trying to find purchase on the smooth door behind her as an orgasm coursed through her body, making her vision swim with white spots.

‘That wasn’t quiet, babe,’ Luisa grinned as she strained up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

‘Well, you try to be quiet when you’re experiencing the orgasm of your life,’ Rose said, her voice rough from screaming.

‘Hmm, that good, huh?’ Luisa preened, she liked pleasuring Rose. Rose had found out long ago that Luisa got a kick out of making her come as hard as she could.

‘Yes, that good,’ Rose smiled, putting her hands on Luisa’s hips and walking her backwards against the other wall of the shower.

‘Have I ever told you I love it when your hair goes all curly?’ Luisa said as she ran her hands through Rose’s hair, pulling on it slightly as Rose kneeled in front of her.

‘No,’ Rose grinned, pushing Luisa’s dress up her hips.

‘Well, I do. It’s lovely to tangle my hands in when you go down on me,’ Luisa grinned, letting out a soft sigh as Rose stroked her through her underwear.

Rose wanted that sigh to turn into a scream, and she was prepared to do the work to make it happen.

* * *

‘Thank you, for showing me,’ Luisa said as Rose sat down next to her on the couch, immediately throwing her legs into the redhead’s lap.

Rose smiled, they had a rough couple of days since moving in together, and while Luisa had still been affectionate, it had been a clingy affection. Like she was afraid Rose was going to disappear if she let go of her.

This was more like Luisa’s usual comfortable touches and Rose hadn’t realized how much she had missed that.

‘I’m glad it worked.’

‘Yeah, now I won’t need that valium,’ Luisa smiled.

‘You wouldn’t need it tonight anyway. We’re just having a quiet night in,’ Rose said, rubbing Luisa’s legs.

‘Before I leave on a hellish conference for four days,’ Luisa sighed.

‘I don’t understand why you hate them so much. I work for the government; we don’t have conferences. I would love to take time off work to hang out in different cities.’

‘It’s obvious you’ve never been to one. The hotels are terrible, the food it terrible, the lectures are boring and I am contractually obliged to go. And the worst part is you aren’t there to make me forget about the bad day I’d just had at night.’ Luisa swung herself in Rose’s lap, tiredly resting her head on her shoulder.

‘You’ll be okay,’ Rose said, nuzzling the side of Luisa’s face. ‘At least you can catch up on some sleep.’

‘Hmm, I don’t know. It might be worse because now I don’t even know if you get back home in the morning,’ Luisa sighed.

‘I’ll text you when I get home in the mornings,’ Rose smiled, hugging Luisa tightly, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo, something tropical Rose had associated with Luisa since their very first meeting.

‘I’d appreciate that. Now will you finally tell me what you’ve been doing for the past week? You are out for hours and come home covered in blood. Which I guess is pretty usual for you but it isn’t for me. And I am curious, I guess. How does the Red Diamond operate?’

Rose smiled. ‘It’s not that impressive. I mostly hang out in the bad neighborhoods. And when I see something happening I interfere. Sometimes I track certain people who evaded their punishment in the courtroom.’

‘So what have you been doing this week?’ Luisa asked, drawing lazy circles on Rose’s collarbone.

‘Trying to find the guy who robbed you,’ Rose admitted, leaning into Luisa’s touches.

‘Seems a little low-profile for the Red Diamond,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Well, he is a criminal and should be punished.’

‘He just stole my phone and a couple of credit cards. Which he didn’t even use. So it was just an annoyance really.’

‘It’s weird he didn’t use and of your credit cards,’ Rose said thoughtfully. She had been thinking about that a lot. The robber had gone through a lot of trouble to steal Luisa’s bag, and then had done nothing with it. Luisa didn’t carry any cash, there had been no activity on her cards and neither her bag or her phone had turned up anywhere around the city. They had just vanished.

‘Maybe he didn’t know about the $50,000 limit I have on them,’ Luisa said casually.

‘You have a $50,000 limit on your credit cards?’ Rose said, stunned.

‘Per purchase. I can spend about thrice that per day on one credit card.’

‘Luisa!’ Rose yelled. ‘When would you ever spent half a million dollars a day?’

‘I have the money, you know that,’ Luisa said, she had always been very open and honest about the size of her trust fund. And while Rose had plenty of money of her own, the amount of zeroes on Luisa’s bank account and how careless she was about using and protecting it made Rose dazzle a bit.

‘You should lower that limit,’ Rose said seriously. ‘Stealing just one of your credit cards is now grand larceny. Robbing you is more effective than robbing a bank. Why do you even have such a high limit?’

‘I like being able to buy things when I want them,’ Luisa shrugged carelessly.

‘And you can’t do that with a $10,000 limit?’

‘I can’t buy a car with that.’

‘You can’t drive,’ Rose said incredulously, laughing loudly.

‘I know, but what if I could,’ Luisa smiled. ‘Then I would need a car. That I can buy with my credit cards.’

‘You’re ridiculous,’ Rose laughed, tickling Luisa who tried to squirm out of her reach.

‘You love me,’ Luisa laughed.

‘I do love you,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa promptly. ‘But I am going to lower the limits on at least three of your credit cards.’

‘Fine,’ Luisa said, rolling her eyes. ‘But that will _drastically_ affect your Christmas present.’

Rose narrowed her eyes. ‘What were you planning on getting me?’

‘Now you will never know,’ Luisa shrugged as she got up out of Rose’s lap, sashaying into the bedroom.

‘Luisa!’ Rose said scrambling after her. ‘Tell me!’

Luisa petted the sheets next to her. ‘Come on, let’s watch a movie in bed.’

‘I don’t have a TV in here,’ Rose frowned, Luisa knew that.

‘And if I didn’t have a limit on my credit card I could fix that,’ Luisa grinned.

‘We don’t need a TV in the bedroom. Plenty of other things we can do here,’ Rose grinned.

‘Like read,’ Luisa teased, taking Rose’s spare pair of glasses off the nightstand, putting them at the tip of her nose.

‘You’re ridiculous,’ Rose laughed, crawling into bed next to Luisa, the purse snatcher and the mystery surrounding him the furthest thing from her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I am very late, again, but the words wouldn't go.
> 
> On that note I would like to preemptively apologize because for the next week and a half I will be studying and taking exams, so very little writing will get done. I'll see you after!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter in the meantime.

‘I’m going to miss you,’ Luisa pouted, wrapping her arms around Rose’s waist, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder.

‘I’m going to miss you, too,’ Rose smiled, kissing the top of Luisa’s head. ‘But if you stay here any longer your plane is going to take off without you on it and I won’t have to miss you at all.’

‘That wouldn’t be so bad, now would it?’ Luisa grinned.

‘No, it wouldn’t,’ Rose smiled. ‘But you should go to your conference. Go. Get on your plane. I will be here in four days to pick you up.’

‘Fine, I’ll go listen to boring doctors mansplain my profession to me.’

‘Good girl,’ Rose grinned.

Luisa looked at her through her thick lashes.

‘If you want me to go, you are really making the wrong argument here, babe,’ Luisa said, smoothing a crease out of Rose’s blouse, making plenty of contact with Rose’s abs through it.

‘Go. Get. On. Your. Plane,’ Rose said between soft, closemouthed kisses.

Luisa pouted and frowned. ‘Alright. Don’t work too hard. I will know!’ she warned.

‘I won’t,’ Rose promised.

‘And send those texts,’ Luisa said, finally pulling away from Rose, picking up her suitcase.

‘I will. I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Luisa said.

‘See you in four days,’ Rose waved.

‘See you in four days,’ Luisa smiled as she joined the line going through security.

Rose waited until Luisa was through the line before leaving, waving at her one last time through the glass.

She hadn’t even made her way back to the taxi stand before her phone buzzed.

Luisa @ 4:53 PM  
I miss you already

Rose smiled as she typed her reply

Rose @ 4:53 PM  
It has been five minutes! But I miss you too. Have a safe flight.

Luisa @ 4:54 PM  
Have a safe night out, will call you when I land.

Rose @ 4:54 PM  
Look forward to it.

She put her phone back in her pocket and hailed a cab. It was a strange feeling to know she would go days to without seeing Luisa. They had been dating for only 4 months, but they had never really gone more than two days without seeing each other before. Even at the very beginning of their relationship everything had moved really fast, not that Rose would ever complain about that.

Now she just had to find a way to pass the hours until it was time to don the cape and cowl and do some crime fighting.

When she walked through her front door 20 minutes later her apartment felt strangely empty. Luisa had lived here for barely a week and yet her influence was already missed in the small space they called home.

She suddenly couldn’t remember what she used to do on night’s she was home alone. It was strange how fast she had gotten used to there being someone else in her life, and how lonely she felt now that person was gone, even if it was only for a couple of days. She couldn’t fathom why she had ever wanted to break up with Luisa, how she could ever think that Luisa didn’t make her life better in every conceivable way.

Tapping her fingers against her thighs, she looked around her apartment. It was too early to make dinner and it was far too early to go out and beat up criminals. Dejectedly, she fell down on the couch, maybe some terrible afternoon reality TV would distract her from the fact that she was already missing Luisa.

Just as she had found a program she was interested in, her phone started ringing. Well, one of her phones started ringing.

She picked up the black burner phone she used as the Red Diamond and answered, slightly deepening her voice.

‘Yes?’

‘Hey, R. It’s Danni,’ Danni’s voice sounded through the receiver.

‘Danni, everything okay?’ Rose asked, slightly worried. Danni had never called her before, she had told her not to except in an emergency.

‘Yes. I am fine. I just found something you might be interested in. It’s about your purse-snatcher.’

Rose sat up straighter. ‘What is it?’

‘Well, one of my guys brought me a very expensive handbag with a wallet, complete with credit cards. And around here, that is a little strange.’

‘What name is on the card, Danni?’ Rose asked, felling her heart speed up at the thought that she might finally had a lead.

‘One minute, let me get them,’ Danni said. Rose heard some shuffling. ‘Alright, got them. They are all in the name of some Ms. L. M. A. V. P. Alver. Wow, lot of names.’

‘She’s Cuban,’ Rose smiled fondly. ‘And those definitely belong to my, uh, _friend_.’ Calling Luisa her friend was not ideal, but it was better than giving away any more information than she had to. ‘Did you find anything else?’

‘Nope, just the wallet and the bag.’

‘No phone?’

‘No phone,’ Danni said. ‘Sorry.’

‘Why would they just take her phone?’ Rose asked out loud, forgetting she was supposed to be doing a voice as she started pacing the room.

‘Easy to sell?’ Danni supplied helpfully.

‘Also easy to track,’ Rose hummed thoughtfully. ‘And it hasn’t turned up yet. So no one sold it.’

‘Not to a shop, no. Phones are more trade-ware around these parts. And judging by the amount of credit cards your _friend_ has in her wallet, it was an expensive one, which is definitely enough to feed a junkie’s habit.’

‘Then why don’t take the credit cards as well?’ Rose asked, stopping her pacing. ‘Where did you say you found it?’

‘I haven’t yet. We found it behind a warehouse a couple of blocks from here.’

‘What’s the address?’ Rose asked, already grabbing her jacket and helmet. She didn’t have the patience to wait for dark. Not now she finally had a lead on the guy who stole Luisa’s bag.

‘So what do I do with this stuff?’ Danni asked after she had given Rose the address.

‘Destroy the credit cards, they have been blocked anyway. You can keep the rest.’

‘Don’t know what I am going to do with a fancy bag like this, but thank you,’ Danni smiled.

‘No, thank _you_. You have no idea how much I needed something to do today. Bye Danni,’

‘Bye R. Good luck.’

* * *

Rose parked her bike a block from the building where Luisa’s bag had been found. She wasn’t wearing her mask, which was risky. But wearing it during broad delight would just attract more attention than not wearing it.

She quickly made her way through the streets, keeping her head down to avoid recognition. Throwing a quick look over her shoulder before ducking into the alley Danni had mentioned.

The walls were grimy and garbage covered the ground. Two large containers were pushed against a chain-link fence in the back, separating this alley from the one behind it. A couple of doors lined the walls, probably backdoors to the bodega and the restaurant in the buildings next to her.

She walked deeper into the alley, towards the garbage containers. Maybe she could find Luisa’s phone and put all of this behind her as the world’s most incompetent purse-snatcher and pure coincidence. But something told her that was not the case here.

She checked out the containers, noticing that they had been emptied. Just her luck. Although it did save her from going dumpster diving, which she was grateful for.

Frustrated that this had been another dead end, she kicked against an empty can. Slightly misjudging her strength and bouncing it off the container, a loud echo ringing through the alley.

As a results one of the side doors opened.

 _Great_ , Rose thought, cringing slightly. Someone seeing her sneaking through an alley was the last thing she needed right now.

Rose pressed herself back against the wall as a man stepped outside. He looked around the alley, thankfully not noticing her. But as he turned to step back inside, Rose noticed _him_. She knew him; he was her purse-snatcher.

She waited for him to close the door again before finding another way to get inside the building. She was unarmed and in her normal clothes, but she had just found her thief after a week of fruitlessly searching for him; she couldn’t just let him go.

Sadly, the steel door the man had just disappeared through seemed to be the only way for her to get inside.

Rose knew she shouldn’t do this; she had no idea what lay behind the door, how many people there were inside. Plus, going inside would definitely be considered trespassing which would be hard to explain. But she needed to know who this guy was so she could find him again later today.

She tried the handle, thankfully finding it unlocked so trespassing didn’t turn into breaking and entering.

After another brief internal debate if she wanted to break the law in this way and endanger herself like this, Rose opened the door a crack, peering into the semi-darkness of the hallway that lay beyond.

Taking a deep breath and already formulating an excuse to both Luisa and the cops in her mind, she stepped inside.

She took a second to let her eyes get used to the darkness before advancing down the hallway towards the faint voices she could hear from behind a partly closed door.

This was definitely the back of a restaurant, empty crates of food and bottles stacked along the wall. And judging by the smell of oil in the air and the layer of dust and grime covering everything in the hallway, it was not a restaurant Rose would eat at.

Careful not to touch anything she made her way to the source of the voices, crouching down next to door to listing in on the conversation happening behind it.

‘No, I’m telling you, it was nothing. Probably a cat or something,’ a gruff, male voice said. ‘You are just paranoid.’

‘It isn’t paranoia when you’re right,’ another voice said, also male and vaguely familiar to Rose.

‘Yes, Mike, that cat’s gonna run right to the Red Diamond and tell her what we’re planning,’ the other man said.

 _Mike_ , she knew that name.

‘Don’t say her name, you moron! Mike bit out.

‘It’s not like she’s gonna hear it,’ the other guy laughed.

‘You’ve never met her. I’m telling you, she ain’t human. I shot her right in the chest and she brushed it off like it was nottin’!’

‘You’re just pissed she put you in jail.’

 _Oh_ , Rose thought. That’s why she knew his voice. She had put him away once before, and it seemed he was angling for another stint in jail.

‘Ruined everything that bitch did,’ Mike spat.

‘But you’re out now Mikey, and this girl is gonna fetch us even more money!’

‘Unless the bitch in the mask interferes.’

‘She won’t Mikey. She won’t even have a clue it’s going on, we’ll be off with the money before she even notices. Now come on, let’s get a drink.’

There was the sound of chairs being dragged across the floor and after everything she had just heard, Rose didn’t realize that meant they would be stepping into the hallway in a second and discover that Mike had good reason to be paranoid.

Knowing she would never make it to the door without being seen, she dove behind a stack of crates, making herself as small as possible. It was a terrible hiding place but in the dim light of the hallway she might just make it.

It wasn’t a second too soon because as soon as she was in place the door opened and the three men stepped outside, clasping each other on the shoulder and laughing as they passed her by. Thankfully not noticing her as they disappeared out the door and into the alley.

Rose could hear a key turn in the lock and cursed under her breath: that had been her exit.

She looked around the hallway, inspecting the door to see if she could open it from the inside but it didn’t budge. Great, now what?

Not having any other choice, she turned back around, hoping to find an exit that way.

She had come in her to find the guy who stole Luisa’s bag and had accidentally uncovered a much bigger plot. Which wasn’t that bad, at least now she had a change to help the poor girl Mike and the others had been talking about, but she had gotten locked in for her efforts, which was infinitely less ideal.

Hoping that there may be a window or something she could climb out of, she entered the room the men had just vacated, her eyes widening in shock as she noticed just exactly who the girl was Mike had been talking about.

On the far wall a couple of printouts and pictures had been hung, and posted square in the center was a picture of Luisa.

Rose moved closer, her heart beating in her throat. _Luisa_ , they were going to take Luisa.

Next to her picture, a copy of Luisa’s calendar was hung up. So that’s why they had taken her phone, to find out her schedule.

On the table, between empty beer cans and candy wrappers there lay a couple of more important looking papers, but they didn’t make any sense to Rose. It was mostly just random numbers.

What she did know was that she had to get out of here and warn Luisa, because while she wasn’t sure what exactly was going to happen, she knew Luisa was in danger. Because of her.

Mike wanted revenge and to get it he was going to hurt Luisa. This was exactly why she should have broken up with Luisa, she was actively endangering her by being near her. This was her worst nightmare and now it was on the verge of becoming true.

Feeling sick Rose stepped back into the dark hallway, she had to get out of here and quick. The alley was out, which left her with two choices, take the rickety stairs to the second floor or turn right down another dim corridor which she was sure would lead to the front of the restaurant.

Deciding it would probably be strange for her to be seen inside the restaurant after never having entered it through the front door, she took the stairs, figuring that there was probably a window she could climb out of unseen.

The upstairs area was filled with more crates, which somehow looked even grimier than the ones downstairs. It was obvious by the layer of dust covering everything no one had been up here in a while.

Feeling a little more secure in the knowledge she was most likely alone up here, she tried one of the two doors lining the hallway. Locked.

She sighed, consequently blowing a cloud of dust up into the air. If the other door was also locked, she had a problem.

She slowed pressed the handle down, smiling in relief as the door clicked open. Now all she needed was a window and she’d be alright.

The room was somehow even more dusty than the hallway had been, but a fickle beam of light shone in through a half covered window on the other side of the room.

Rose felt like her luck had turned as she looked out through the glass. She was about ten feet above the alley, it would be an easy jump down and then she could get the hell out of here and figure out what to do.

She flicked the latch off the window, moving to slide it open only to find out it had been painted shut.

‘Okay, I get it. I am never breaking in again,’ Rose muttered under her breath to no in particular. She just felt like this was karma for breaking the law.

The closed window left her with two option. Break the glass, which would most likely attract unwanted attention or try her luck sneaking out through the front of the restaurant, which would most likely get her seen.

Deciding that the smashing the window would be the saver bet – this floor was abandoned and so was the alley outside- she took a steadying breath before putting her fist through the glass.

The shards rained down to the street bellow with a harsh crash. Deciding time was of the essence she climbed out of the window and jumped to the ground, rolling through the broken glass to break her fall. Anyone else would have been sliced open by the nasty shards but to Rose it just felt like she was falling on gravel. A little painful but nothing to worry about.

Brushing the glass off her legs and arms she quickly made her way to the end of the alley, glad to have escaped unseen but worried by what she had discovered.

As she made her way back to her bike she fought the urge to call Luisa. She had to tell her what happened, but she knew Luisa’s plane would still be in the air and calling was useless.

Luisa would call her when she landed, until then she just had to wait, which gave her some time to figure out how to tell Luisa she was in danger because of her.

* * *

Rose had paced the length of her apartment more than twenty times now. Luisa should have landed by now, but every time she called she immediately got Luisa’s voicemail. Normally she wouldn’t have been that worried, but after today the fear that something had happened to Luisa and that there was nothing she could do about it was messing with her head.

She was just about to catch a flight to Baltimore herself to check on Luisa when her phone finally rang, Luisa’s smiling face staring up at her.

‘Hey, you called,’ Luisa said, her melodic voice calming Rose’s nerves considerably; Luisa was alright.

‘What took you so long?’ Rose asked, the words coming out harsher than she had intended to. She blamed her nerves.

‘I’m already at the hotel, we hit a spot of rush hour and the service on the road was terrible so I decided to wait to call you, didn’t want you breaking up on me. Why, what’s wrong? You sound a little panicked.’

‘Lu, I think you might be in danger,’ Rose said, not knowing a better way to bring Luisa this distressing news.

‘What, why?’ Luisa asked, sounding confused.

‘I found the guy who stole your bag. And I eavesdropped on his conversation with two other guys, and I am pretty certain they are planning to kidnap you.’

Luisa was silent for a while. ‘So what do we do now? Do I come back home? Did you call the police?’

‘Not yet, I wanted to tell you first. And no, don’t come home. You’re safer in Baltimore.’

‘Why?’ Luisa asked. ‘You’re back in Miami. Wouldn’t you be able to protect me better if I was too?’

Rose bit her lip. ‘I think they are targeting you because of me. So the farther away you are from me the better. I’m so sorry I put you in this position. I should have never…’

‘Stop that. Right now,’ Luisa said firmly. ‘Whatever this is, it is not your fault. And no offense, babe, it is probably not even about you.’

‘What?’ Rose asked, now her turn to be confused.

‘I mean, you’re assuming it’s because of you. But how would they know you are the Red Diamond? Because I have never been seen with the Red Diamond, just with you. So how would they know. I mean, I dated you for four months and I didn’t even know. And I think you are forgetting my father is a multi-millionaire, and while I might not have the Solano name, I am still very publicly connected to them and their fortune.’

‘They mentioned me,’ Rose said, starting to see the logic in Luisa’s words.

‘I think all criminals mention you when they are discussing their exploits, you are sort of their boogeyman, honey. So I am sorry to say this, this is my dad’s fault, not yours.’

Luisa was right, probably. It was very unlikely Mike was doing this just get back at her, and as she thought back to the conversation she’d overheard, she realized that the men had been mostly in it for the money.

‘Not everything in the world is on you,’ Luisa said, sounding more caring and optimistic than Rose had thought possible.

‘Guess not everything revolves around me, huh?’ Rose chuckled ruefully.

‘You can be a little self-centered sometimes, yes,’ Luisa teased gently. ‘So what do we do now. I know you will save me if I do get kidnapped, but I do not really look forward to actually _being_ kidnapped, so maybe we can just skip that bit?’ Luisa laughed, the sound coming out a little strained.

‘I’ll call the police with an anonymous tip, send the address of their hideout, give the men’s names and descriptions and they will arrange protection for you. In the meantime, stay in your room, lock the doors and don’t open them for anyone.’

‘Okay,’ Luisa said, her voice soft.

‘Don’t be scared. Everything’s going to be okay,’ Rose promised. ‘You’re going to be fine.’

‘I would feel better if you were with me,’ Luisa admitted soflty.

‘You’re safer in Baltimore. I saw these men today, they are still in Miami. And I will find them and stop them before they even get close to you. I am not going to let anything happen to you.’

‘I love you,’ Luisa said, her voice a little more even now.

‘I love you too. Text me every hour, okay?’

‘I thought you said I should not worry as long as I was here,’ Luisa said, the worry understandably creeping back into her voice.

‘And you don’t have to. I just like knowing you’re okay,’ Rose said, trying to sound clam and comforting. Like the kidnapping threat didn’t worry her at all.

‘Same goes for you. I would hate you to get hurt on my behalf.’

‘Don’t worry about me. I’m bulletproof, remember? I’ll call soon. Be safe.’

‘You too.’

As Rose hung up she felt a little better, Luisa was okay. For now, but she was still very much in danger. She felt a little bad about leaving her girlfriend to her own devises. But she would truly be safer in Baltimore, far away from Miami’s criminals. And Rose would be more use down here. She had found Mike once; she could do it again.

But before going out she needed to contact the police, because while she was definitely not going to sit back and relax, she knew the police was better equipped to handle this situation. And she was not going to gamble with Luisa’s safety. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens...
> 
> I do so hope this chapter makes sense, because as I said, the words would not go. 
> 
> Comments and feedback would be very much appreciated, thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Her muscles were burning and her hands hurt from repeatedly hitting the bag in front of her but she had no intention of stopping yet. Her music blared loudly in her ears as she kicked the sand bag so hard it swung on its chain.

Panting, she continued her work-out. Punch. Kick. Punch. Punch. Kick. She was so lost in the whirlwind of her thoughts about Mike and Luisa’s prospective kidnapping that when someone tapped her on the back her first reaction was to grab their wrist and flip them over her shoulder.

‘Jesus, Rose,’ Ryan groaned as he struggled to get up.

‘Oh my god, I am so sorry,’ Rose said as she pulled the headphones out of her ears. ‘You startled me.’

‘Yeah, no kidding,’ Ryan said as he accepted Rose’s hand and got to his feet. ‘Not gonna lie, that was a very impressive move, but damn girl that was uncalled for.’

‘I’m sorry, Ryan. I’ve just been a little on edge lately.’

‘I’ll say. You have been punching the hell out that bag for three hours now. Did it steal your girl or something?’

Rose scoffed, _or something alright._ ‘No, Luisa is at a conference this week. I just came here to blow off some steam.’ _Because I messed up and now Luisa is in danger and it is all my fault._

‘You might be over doing it, honey,’ Ryan said, inspecting Rose’s hands. ‘Go shower, go home and skype your girlfriend. Don’t beat yourself up because you miss her.’

‘Yeah, I probably should,’ Rose nodded. She shouldn’t tire herself out like this if she wanted to go out tonight and find Mike before Luisa got back home. And she _had_ to find Mike as the police were currently doing nothing.

‘You should ice your hands when you get home because I can tell you that’s gonna hurt like a bitch tomorrow.’

‘I will. Sorry again for flipping you onto the ground.’

‘Don’t worry about it. I should know better by now than to just approach you by now. And besides, Josh might take pity on me and massage my shoulders for me,’ Ryan grinned.

Rose laughed. ‘Well, I don’t feel so bad now. Say hi to your boyfriend for me,’ she said as she turned around to go and hit the showers.

‘Rose, wait up!’ Ryan said as he jogged after her like he suddenly remembered something. ‘It’s kinda late, if you need me to walk you home just give a shout.’

Rose smiled as she looked at the large, well-muscled black guy people would probably avoid on the street standing in front of her, asking her if she felt safe walking home alone. He really was the sweetest.

‘I’ll be fine, Ryan. I did just throw your 250-pound ass over my shoulder and all. But thank you.’

‘Okay, I’ve heard enough. You can handle yourself,’ Ryan chuckled, putting his hands up. ‘Get home safe and ice those hands!’

‘I’m on it!’ Rose said, having no intention to put ice anywhere near her body. It was not like she needed it anyway. As she undid the wraps around her hands the skin was just as pale and unbruised as it had been before she went to the gym to work out her anger and disappointment.

She fetched her phone from her pocket to turn off her music, only to see that Ryan had not been exaggerating when he said she had been here for three hours. She had a bunch of unread “proof I am okay and not kidnapped” texts from Luisa and decided to call her back.

‘Hey, is everything okay?’ Luisa asked when she picked up. ‘You didn’t respond to my texts.’

‘Yes, everything is alright. Sorry for not responding, I was at the gym and forgot the time,’ Rose said, collapsing onto a bench in the locker room, resting her head in her hands. ‘I’m sorry, Luisa.’

‘Rose,’ Luisa started softly, trying to reassure Rose like she had been doing for the last couple of days, ‘it’s not your fault the police checked out your lead and found nothing.’

‘But it _is_ my fault,’ Rose sighed. ‘They must have figured out I’d been in there and moved shop. And now the police won’t pursue because the only evidence they have is from my anonymous tip that didn’t pan out. So you’re without protection in another city and I can’t find Mike and his buddies so you’re still in danger and it is all my fault,’ Rose rambled.

‘Maybe they ran once the police showed up, called off the plan and went into hiding, maybe that’s why you can’t find them.’

‘Even if they did, I still have to find them and arrest them on conspiracy charges. You might still be in danger, Luisa. I _have_ to find them.’

‘I know you do, but please don’t blame yourself for this. I am glad you got out of that place unseen and unscathed. Even if I _still_ can’t believe you went in there in the first place.’

‘Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. It was stupid.’ She slightly regretted telling Luisa just how exactly she had find out about the plot to kidnap her because her right ear still hadn’t completely recovered from the hour of yelling Luisa had engaged in after she told her. ‘And I won’t do it again.’

‘Good, I’m coming home tomorrow, we can move on from there.’

‘About that,’ Rose said, exhaustedly running a hand through her hair, her muscles screaming at her to get into a shower and go to bed. ‘Maybe it’s better if you stay there a little longer, just until these guys are behind bars and I know you are safe.’

‘I’ll be safe with you,’ Luisa said. ‘I miss you, I want to come home.’

‘Luisa…’

‘No, don’t “Luisa” me! I’ve been on edge all week, I jump every time someone looks at me for longer than a second. Every noise scares me! I want to go home! I want to feel safe again. I want you, Rose!’ Luisa said, her heart breaking in time with Luisa’s voice.

Rose bit her lip, really wishing she could wrap her arms tightly around Luisa and whisper to her that it would all be okay.

‘What if I come to you?’

‘You want to come to Baltimore?’

‘I really don’t think you should be in Miami right now. And I don’t want you to be alone.’

‘You can’t come here, Rose. You have work, and your night job. You can’t leave the city.’

‘The city will be okay without me for a week, and my boss have been begging me to take a vacation,’ Rose laughed.

‘That’s very nice, Rose. But I just wanna go home, be with you, at _our_ place. I am sure it will be fine.’

Rose sighed, she had the feeling there was nothing she could to change Luisa’s mind, and she could sort of understand where she was coming from.

‘Alright, I’ll be at the airport tomorrow to pick you up. I've missed you and I want you home too.’

‘I can’t wait to be home. This hotel is really terrible,’ Luisa said, Rose perfectly imagining the pout on her girlfriend’s face.

She chuckled. ‘I’m sure it is. But you’ll be home tomorrow.’

‘I’ll be safe with you tomorrow,’ Luisa breathed.

‘You will be,’ Rose smiled. ‘But I’ve got to hang up and shower now, I just punched a sandbag for three hours and I smell _horrible_.’

‘Three hours, Rose? That’s insane! Please tell me you do not plan on going out tonight.’

‘I have to. I need to find him, Lu.’

‘Rose, you must be exhausted and I don’t want you getting hurt on my behalf!’

‘I’m fine,’ Rose groaned as she got up, her muscles protesting the movement.

‘Yeah, you sound like you can run outrun a criminal and scale a wall,’ Luisa said sarcastically.

‘The shower will make me feel better, I promise I won’t do anything dangerous.’

Luisa paused for a moment. ‘Nothing dangerous. I will know.’

‘I promise you I will do nothing dangerous and that I will talk to you later. Love you.’

‘Love you, too,’ Luisa said before hanging up the phone.

Rose stretched her aching muscles and undressed before making her way into the shower. It was now more important than ever that she found Mike and put him in jail. She couldn’t let Luisa return to the city with him still free.

* * *

Rose seriously regretted her fight with the boxing bag as hauled herself up onto the roof. The hot shower had helped a little but her muscles were still sore and she’d had approximately 7 hours of sleep in the last three days.

Luisa would be seriously disappointed in the amount of coffee she had been consuming, which why she had decided not to disclose that information to her girlfriend.

She looked down at the alley from her spot on the roof. The window she’d jumped out of had been boarded up, but that must have been the last thing Mike had done to the place because he hadn’t been here since.

The police had combed the building but the backroom had been emptied out, all traces that something illegal had been going on gone.

So Rose was on her own, and while she knew it was highly unlikely Mike or either of his friends would return here, she didn’t know where else to go. For the last three nights she had been staking it out, hoping for a miracle.

She wished she had a cup of coffee because her eyes were definitely started to droop and she wasn’t sure her powers extended to her surviving a 60-foot fall and she wasn’t eager to find out. But being a superhero walking around town with a thermos might damage her reputation.

Just as she was about to call it a night and go home to sleep like she’d promised Luisa her phone rang.

‘Speak,’ Rose said, too tired to deepen her voice.

‘We got him,’ Danni said.

‘What?’ Rose said, immediately perking up.

‘Well, we haven’t actually _got_ him,’ Danni explained. ‘Dwight saw him.’

‘Where?’ Rose said as she got up, going home long forgotten. She finally had a lead.

* * *

Rose collapsed onto her bed hours later, the sun already up.

She had trailed Mike into the industrial district only to lose him in the maze of warehouses.

She was beyond exhausted and sore and so very disappointed in herself that she had lost Mike. She could have had him, he could be behind bars right now and Luisa could be safe. But no, he had somehow gotten away from her again.

Luisa would arrive at the city airport in five hours and Rose had decided to call in sick at work and sleep for four of those so Luisa didn’t kill her on the spot.

They would figure out what to do after once Luisa was safely back in their house and her arms.

Exactly four hours later her alarm rang and Rose sluggishly reached out to silence it, her muscles stiff and sore. She had really overdone it this time. And yet she couldn’t help but smile as she noticed the countdown texts Luisa had sent her.

Luisa would already be on the plane by now so replying to it would be useless, but it made her happy that at least Luisa would be back in her arms in an hour.

She quickly showered and dressed, making herself a travel mug of coffee before making her way down to the street to hail a cab. She would have taken her bike as it would have been quicker in the morning traffic but Luisa had a suitcase with her and there would be no place for that on her motorcycle.

Twenty minutes later Rose walked through the glass sliding doors of the airport, exactly at that moment her phone starting ringing. Luisa’s picture staring up at her.

‘Hey, babe!’ Luisa said. ‘I’ve just landed, making my way to the arrival hall.

‘I’ll be waiting for you there,’ Rose said as she walked through the airport. ‘So how was your flight?’

‘It was alright, not too much turbulence and I wasn’t seated next to a crying baby so I can’t complain. I can’t wait to kiss you though,’ Luisa said, Rose hearing the smile in her girlfriend’s voice.

‘Me neither. I’ll be right here waiting.’

‘I’ll be there in five minutes.’

‘That’s too long,’ Rose said as she leaned on the metal divider, staring expectantly at the sliding doors, knowing they would soon open to reveal her girlfriend.

‘I know, but I can’t run in these heels.’

‘Fine, I’ll wait,’ Rose smiled.

‘So did you make a sign saying “Pick up for Ms. Alver”?’

‘I did not, would you have liked me to?’

‘No, it’s alright. You being here is enough. About that, shouldn’t you be at work?’

‘I took the day off,’ Rose smiled. ‘I needed to catch up on some sleep before you came back.’

‘You stayed out all night again, didn’t you?’ Luisa said accusatorily.

‘Maybe,’ Rose said, Luisa had the singular ability to make her feel guilty.

‘Rose!’ Luisa yelled.

‘I’m sorry, but please yell at me in person, it’s so much nicer when I can see your face scrunch up.’

Luisa scoffed. ‘Fine, but you’re not getting out of this. After my welcome home kiss there will be yelling.’

‘I understand. Just tell me you are close.’

‘Nearly there,’ Luisa said, pausing momentarily. ‘Rose, I think…’

The next thing Rose heard was a dull thud and then nothing.

The frosted glass doors slid open to reveal nothing but an abandoned phone laying on the floor.

* * *

Rose faulted over the divider, her heart hammering in her throat as she picked up the phone. Her own name staring up at her from the screen.

She looked around the hallway but saw nothing; Luisa was gone.

‘Fuck,’ she shouted, kicking the wall. They had taken her from right under her nose. Somehow Mike had gotten the jump on her and now he had Luisa.

She ran through the empty hallway; Luisa couldn’t be far.

There was an emergency exit at the end, and figuring that Mike would want to get a hopefully struggling Luisa out of the airport as quickly as possible she went through it.

The door leading to the airport’s parking lot.

‘Luisa!’ Rose yelled, looking around for something out of the ordinary. ‘LUISA!’ There was no response.

She picked up her phone, dialing 911.

‘Yes, hi. I’m ADA Rose Ruvelle and I need to report the kidnapping of Luisa Alver. She was taken two minutes ago from the Miami Airport. No, I didn’t see anyone take her but I was on the phone with her when she disappeared. A tip was called in about her prospective kidnapping earlier this week and I am calling to tell you it actually happened. She’s gone! Someone took her. His name is Mike Thompkins, he’s in the system. Yes, I’ll be there soon. Thank you,’ Rose said as she hung up.

She had no idea where Mike had taken Luisa, and she couldn’t cover the entire city on her own. So she needed their help.

That was when a black van with darkened windows sped past her, Rose only caught a glimpse of the driver but that was enough: it was Mike.

Rose ran after it but knew she could never keep up with it, especially as her muscles were already protesting her actions.

‘Taxi!’ Rose yelled as a yellow cab drove past her, pulling open the door and jumping in before the cab had truly stopped.

‘Hey lady, careful!’ the cabbie yelled.

‘Follow that van!’ Rose said.

‘This is not a movie, lady. I don’t follow other cars,’ the cabbie grumbled.

‘I’ll pay you triple your rate plus 100 bucks if you go NOW!’ Rose yelled, she didn’t have time for this, Luisa was in danger and that van was her only hint as to where they were taking her and she could _not_ lose it.

She had already failed Luisa once by allowing her to get taken, she was not going to do it again.

‘Alright, you got it,’ the cabbie nodded. Starting the pursuit.

Rose drummed her fingers on her thigh. She was unarmed, was wearing her normal clothes and had called the police for help. She was definitely playing with fire where her secret identity was concerned but she didn’t care. She had to get Luisa back. Now. There was no time to stop by their place to pick up her batons and mask. She would lose the car and with it any chance of finding Luisa.

This was all her fault. She should have realized they were planning to take Luisa once she arrived at the airport, it was the perfect place for a kidnapping. She had played right into the kidnapper’s hands and now Luisa was gone.

She kept her eye on the van as it wove through midday traffic, the cabbie staying right behind it as the van took a right off the freeway towards the industrial area.

‘Slow down, don’t let them see you,’ Rose said as they drove past the warehouses she had lost Mike the day before.

‘Lady, do you want to tell me what’s going on here?’ the cabbie asked.

‘That’s my boyfriend’s car, I think he’s cheating on me,’ Rose lied, not taking her eyes off the van. It was better the cabbie didn’t know exactly what was happening.

The cabbie looked at her through the rearview mirror before looking back at the road. ‘Helluva place to take girl…’

‘Stop here,’ Rose said as the van pulled into what she knew to be a dead end. She pulled some bills from her wallet. ‘Thank you for the ride,’ Rose said as she got out.

‘You go get him, lady!’ the cabbie said as he pulled away.

‘Oh, I will,’ Rose said as she peeked around the corner. ‘I’m coming Luisa.’

She took a second to come up with a plan. She had rushed out here with nothing; no weapons, no costume, no plan.

Now she knew where Luisa was she should probably call the police to tell them this. But she couldn’t leave Luisa with these criminals one second longer than she had to.

She paced on the spot for a while, trying to come up with a plan that would get Luisa out of there without getting her hurt or shot or worse.

She walked around the low, concrete building, hoping to find another way in but there was only one door and all the windows were too high up for her to reach on her own.

‘Damn it,’ Rose cursed. What kind of superhero was she if she couldn’t even get into a building and save the only person she cared about?

She couldn’t just storm in through the door, Luisa was in there somewhere and her storming in might get her hurt.

Rose hated doing this (Luisa might kill her for it) but it was the only option she had right now. She combed her fingers through her hair and undid the top two buttons of her blouse and knocked. Maybe playing the damsel in distress would open some doors for her.

After getting no response she knocked again.

‘Hey, anybody there? My car broke down and I have no signal,’ she yelled.

She heard scuffling behind the door, prompting her to continue.

‘Get lost!’ a male voice called out.

‘Please sir, there’s no one else around here for miles. I just need to use your phone. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.’

Rose heard more muttering and then the click of the door unlocking.

‘Whatcha doing here, girlie?’ her purse snatcher asked.

‘My car broke down around the corner. I saw your car here and hoped I could use your phone to call a mechanic,’ Rose smiled as the guy looked her up and down. She doing the same to him, noticing the gun in his right hand hidden behind the door.

‘Our phone’s not working,’ he said, trying to close the door. ‘Try the next place over.’

‘Oh, well. Sorry to bother you,’ Rose said, throwing herself against the door, sending the guy’s gun clattering to the ground. She punched him in the stomach, grabbing his head and driving it into her knee, breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious.

She picked up his gun and stuck it in the waistband of her jeans. She wasn’t planning on shooting anyone but at least her knocked-out criminal wouldn’t have it now.

One down, two to go.

She walked down the hallway, following the sound of voices.

‘Just tell us your father’s number,’ Mike said.

‘And I am telling you, I don’t know it,’ Luisa bit out, making Rose smile; Luisa was okay. At least okay enough to sass her kidnapper. Which probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it was very Luisa.

‘How do you not know your own father’s number?’

‘I had it saved in my phone, which you made me drop. What kind of kidnapper doesn’t have the number of the person they are supposed to make the ransom call to?’

‘Shut up!’ Mike said angrily.

The only sound Rose heard after that was a muffled yelling, telling her they must have gagged Luisa.

‘Matt!’ Mike shouted. ‘Where is that dude? Go look for him!’ he said the other guy, the one Rose didn’t know.

Rose pressed herself against the wall, waiting for him to pass her so she could take him out too.

As he rushed past her Rose kicked him in the knee and dropped him to ground, punching him against the temple before he could make a sound.

‘That’s two,’ she whispered, dragging the guy to the side of the hallway.

Now she just had to get Mike away from Luisa and everything would be alright.

‘Don’t move,’ a voice sounded from behind her as a gun pressed against her back.

Rose bit her lip; she had rushed in without thinking and had missed something vitally important; there was a fourth kidnapper…


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I had a better apology then "the words wouldn't go" but that is pretty much all I have to offer. I found out I can't write fight scenes which made this chapter extremely difficult to write. Apologies.
> 
> Sorry for leaving you on this particular cliffhanger for four months, I won't do it again. Promise.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy the resolution!

_“…‘Don’t move,’ a voice sounded from behind her as a gun pressed against her back._

_Rose bit her lip; she had rushed in without thinking and had missed something vitally important; there was a fourth kidnapper…”_

Rose’s mind raced as she tried to come up with a solution to the gun pressed against her back and the kidnapper pushing her forwards.

Obviously the fact that she might get shot in the spine was the least of her worries, she was more worried about the gun going off in Luisa’s vicinity and her girlfriend getting hit instead.

Also as she was unmasked, Mike might recognize her as the ADA who put him in jail, something he was clearly still upset about.

Deciding to take the risk of being recognized, Rose walked along quietly, putting her hands in the air. Being recognized would beat Luisa getting hurt on her behalf any day.

‘Mike! We have a problem!’ the guy shouted as he pushed her into the room.

‘What? Who the hell is this?’ Mike said as he saw her, Luisa’s eyes going wide as well.

‘No idea. But she somehow got the drop on Carl and Shaun. They’re out cold.’

‘Oh, you picked the wrong day to break in here, girly,’ Mike said, stepping away from Luisa and towards her.

 _Good, stay away from her you creep,_ Rose thought.

‘Who are you?’ Mike asked as he halted in front of her. ‘What are you doing here?’

It seemed as she had been right to take the risk of being unmasked; Mike didn’t seem to recognize her. And she definitely wasn’t going to tell him.

‘A concerned citizen,’ Rose said calmly, she wasn’t going to cower in fear in front of the guy who took her girlfriend from her. ‘I saw you take her in here.’ She motioned to Luisa. ‘So how about you let us both go and you’ll never hear from us again?’ Rose tried, smiling disarmingly.

Mike laughed. ‘Yeah, I don’t think so. You’ve seen too much.’

‘What do you want me to do with her, Mike?’ the guy behind her said, jabbing his gun into her back a little harder, probably to remind her he still had it.

‘Kill her. We won’t get any money for her,’ Mike said carelessly.

Luisa’s muffled screaming reminded Rose that she should probably be more upset about just being handed a death sentence.

‘No, please! Don’t kill me!’ Rose pleaded, pretending that getting shot and left for dead wouldn’t play exactly into her hands. ‘I won’t tell anyone! Let’s just forget this ever happened.’

‘Take her outside and shoot her,’ Mike said, walking back towards Luisa, no longer interested in her.

‘Come on,’ the guy said, pushing her towards a door in the far wall.

Rose heard Luisa yelling and that hurt her more than any bullet ever could.

‘It’s okay, I’m coming back,’ Rose whispered.

‘What did you say?’

‘A prayer. You’re going to kill me, right? Praying is what you do in that scenario.’ Rose bit out.

‘Well, it’s not going to help you,’ the man said as he roughly pushed her through the door into an empty courtyard.

‘No, but it might help you,’ Rose hissed as she spun around suddenly. Catching her would-be murderer unawares, wrestling the gun from his hand and whacking him against the side of the head with it.

‘You should really tie up the people you are planning on shooting,’ Rose said as he fell groaning to the ground. Another swift punch to the head had him out cold too.

She took his gun and fired it into the ground, Mike was expecting a gunshot so she was giving him one. It was better for him to think she was dead. That would give her some time to figure out what to do with him.

He had taken the guns she’d taken of his cronies, so he was armed and definitely dangerous. Her best bet was to wait out here and hope for Mike to come check up on what was taking so long, but that might not happen and she couldn’t leave Luisa alone with him for that long.

Deciding she would just surprise him like she had the others she opened the door a crack and snuck back into the warehouse. Intending to hide behind a stack of crates near it only to see Mike waving a gun around in Luisa’s face, which drove all rational thought from her mind.

‘Hey, Mike!’ she yelled as she pulled her gun, aiming it at his chest.

Mike was so surprised he turned towards the sound of her voice, leveling his gun at her instead of at Luisa.

‘Drop the gun and step away from the girl,’ Rose said, subconsciously lowering her voice to the one she used as the Red Diamond.

‘You’re not going to shoot me,’ Mike laughed.

 _Watch me_ , Rose thought. She normally tried not to shoot people, but then again she usually avoided knocking people out too. These men had taken Luisa so she really didn’t care if they sustained any lasting injuries.

‘Step _away_ from the girl,’ Rose repeated angrily, momentarily taking her eyes off Mike and his gun to check on Luisa, who was crying silently, tears running down her cheeks as she looked at Rose.

It was a mistake, because as soon as Mike noticed her attention was off him he fired, the bullet hitting her square in the chest.

Rose let the force work her to the ground, groaning loudly.

‘Not everyone is cut out to be a criminal,’ Mike grinned as he appeared next to her, leveling his gun at her head for the final blow.

‘No, not everyone is,’ Rose smiled as she kicked Mike’s legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the floor. The move might not work on Ryan, but it had definitely worked on Mike.

‘You bitch!’ Mike yelled as he made a grab for the gun he had dropped.

‘That’s not going to work,’ Rose said, kicking the gun away, kicking Mike in the side so he fell back to the floor. ‘And you’re going to jail for a very long time,’ she said as she grabbed his head in her hands and slammed it hard into the ground below.

She stepped away from Mike’s unconscious body and sprinted across the expanse of concrete to free Luisa. She knew she should probably tie up Mike and the other unconscious men laying around the warehouse, but Luisa had priority.

‘Rose,’ Luisa cried, as Rose took out her gag, tears running down her cheeks.

‘Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I got you,’ Rose said, untying Luisa’s hands. ‘I got you,’ Rose whispered, hugging Luisa as tightly as she could, not planning on letting go any time soon. ‘Are you okay? Did they hurt you?’

Luisa shook her head, helping Rose untie her own legs. ‘No, they knocked me out with some kind of drug and when I woke up I was here. Are you okay?’ she asked, running her hands over Rose’s chest, lingering on the bullet hole in her blouse.

‘Yeah, I’m alright. I’m bulletproof, remember?’ Rose said, pulling Luisa to her feet and into a tight hug.

‘I’m sorry,’ Luisa cried.

‘You’re sorry?’ Rose asked, her brow furrowed. ‘I’m the one that should be sorry! I let them take you!’

‘You told me to stay put, but I wanted to come home. It’s my fault, I should have listened to you,’ Luisa sniffled, burying her face in Rose’s shoulder.

‘Shh, it’s not your fault,’ Rose said, pulling back a little to look at Luisa. ‘We’re okay now.’

Luisa flashed her a watery smile, leaning in to brush her lips against Rose’s.

In all the excitement of Luisa’s kidnapping Rose had forgotten she hadn’t seen Luisa in five days.

‘Thank you for rescuing me,’ Luisa smiled, wiping at her tears.

‘I’ll always rescue you,’ Rose said firmly. ‘Always.’

‘So what do we do now?’ Luisa asked, looking at Mike who was still out cold.

‘I’m going to tie them up and then call the cops.’

‘And then can we get out of here?’

‘You should wait here for the cops to take you to the station to take your statement.’

‘Rose, I just want to be done with this. I want to go home,’ Luisa sighed.

‘I know, honey. I know. But you have to stay here.’

‘And what are you going to do?’ Luisa asked, her eyes still shimmering with unshed tears.

‘I’ll wait here, out of sight, until the police show up,’ Rose said, squeezing Luisa’s hand softly. ‘They will take you to the station and call me, after that we can go home.’

‘I don’t want you to go,’ Luisa said, tightening her hold on Rose’s hand.

‘It will be okay, I won’t be far. I promise.’

Luisa nodded; she might not like it but she knew it was necessary.

‘What do I tell the police?’ Luisa asked.

‘That the Red Diamond rescued you, that you were still out of it from the drugs when she showed up. That she freed you and disappeared. The truth, with a twist.’

‘Okay, I can do that,’ Luisa nodded.

‘I love you,’ Rose said, brushing another soft kiss against Luisa’s lips. ‘We’ll be home soon.’

‘I love you too,’ Luisa said softly as she pulled away from the kiss.

‘Wait here,’ Rose said as she released Luisa, gathering the ropes that had bound Luisa to the chair and setting to work on tying Mike and his crew up. 20 minutes later all four were securely tied around one of the support beams in the warehouse. Their guns disassembled and put in a neat pile of parts on the table.

‘Call 911,’ Rose said, holding out Mike’s phone to Luisa. ‘They will take ten minutes to get here. I will be on the building across the street, keeping an eye on things.’

‘What if they wake up?’ Luisa said, eyeing the four tied-up men warily.

‘They won’t. But if they it’s okay. They won’t hurt you, not anymore, they are securely tied up. And they will have too much of a headache to do more than groan and whine anyway.’

Luisa nodded, putting on a brave face, but Rose could see the fear in her eyes. It felt wrong to leave Luisa here alone, but she couldn’t stay, not without facing questions she didn’t have answers to.

Luisa swallowed and dialed the number, Rose staying with her until she could no longer risk it.

‘I’ll see you soon,’ Rose said as she pulled Luisa into a hug.

‘I’ll see you soon,’ Luisa echoed, reluctantly letting go of Rose.

Rose made her way up to the roof of the building across the street, already hearing the sirens of the approaching police cars. Within a minute they had reached the building and went inside, leading Luisa out moments later.

Before getting in the police car Luisa looked up, their eyes meeting almost automatically.

Rose smiled, she hated that she couldn’t be there with Luisa, that she couldn’t hold her hand. But she couldn’t explain why she’d been in the warehouse, how she’d found it, how she had taken out four armed men twice her size or the bullet holes in her shirt without revealing she wasn’t just an assistant district attorney.

After Luisa, Mike and the others – all conscious again – were let out of the building in cuffs and loaded into different cars.

She had been hunting Mike for over a week, and finally seeing him in cuffs gave her no small amount of joy, she just hated that it had only happened after he had taken Luisa. She wished she could have prevented it, would gave anything in her power to make it so Mike had never laid his hands on Luisa.

She shook herself out of it; Luisa was safe, Mike was going to jail for a long time, it wouldn’t do to dwell on what should have been.

It was only after the police cars drove off that Rose realized she had no transport. For the second time today she wished she had taken her bike, but seeing as she hadn’t she would just have to take another cab.

She quickly called for one, hoping that phone call wouldn’t coincide with the police’s call to tell her Luisa was safe. Which she already knew, but the police wouldn’t know that.

Lucky for her the call came when she was already on her way to the station.

She didn’t have to act she was relieved to see Luisa once she burst through the doors of the police station. Immediately enveloping Luisa in a tight hug as her shoulders started shaking again.

‘It’s okay, it’s all okay now,’ Rose whispered, stroking Luisa’s hair, keeping her pressed closely against her. Before pulling away she pressed a soft kiss to Luisa’s lips, hoping to calm her down a little.

‘They need both our statements,’ Luisa sniffled, wiping at her eyes.

‘We can give them together,’ Rose said, not wanting to let Luisa out of her sight, feeling like Luisa would appreciate that too.

The officer who had been standing nearby, waiting for them to finish, offered them a sympathetic smile as she lead them into an interrogation room.

* * *

‘Can we go home now?’ Luisa asked softly, sounding beyond tired and exhausted.

‘Of course,’ Rose nodded, wrapping her arm around Luisa’s shoulder as they walked down the stairs of the police station, pressing a kiss to her temple as well.

‘You aren’t going out tonight, right?’ Luisa asked, her eyes suddenly fearful.

‘No, I’m staying with you. Besides, I think I did quite enough crimefighting for today.’

‘I don’t want to be alone,’ Luisa said, her voice barely audible, hiding her face against Rose’s neck.

‘You won’t be. I’ll be right here,’ Rose said, holding the car door open before sliding in next to Luisa. Beginning to realize that Luisa was a lot more shaken up by what had happened than she had let on at the police station.

‘They can’t hurt you anymore,’ Rose whispered, carting her fingers through Luisa’s hair. ‘You’re safe. They are never going to hurt anyone ever again.’

Luisa inhaled sharply and then broke apart, choking out sobs as she buried her face in Rose’s hair.

Rose let her cry, knowing that nothing she could say would make Luisa feel any better right now. She had been drugged and kidnapped today, something like that would definitely upset a person’s balance and sense of safety. Not to mention being drugged might have triggered Luisa’s history of addiction.

‘I’m here, whatever you need, I’m here,’ Rose whispered, pressing fleeting kisses to Luisa’s hair, stroking her back, hoping to quiet her sobs.

Luisa didn’t respond, remaining tucked against Rose’s sides, her sobs changing into quiet tears.

‘Lu, we’re here. We’re home,’ Rose said, squeezing Luisa’s shoulder softly, hoping to get her to look at her.

Luisa looked up, her eyes red rimmed and watery, her mascara having run a bit.

Rose smiled softly at her, wiping at her tears, rubbing the make-up away with the pads of her thumbs. ‘We can talk about it upstairs if you want. Or we can just watch a movie and go to bed. Whatever you need.’

Luisa nodded, taking Rose’s hand and letting her lead her out of the cab and up the stairs.

‘I’ll make some tea,’ Rose said as she helped Luisa onto the couch, the brunette drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them, still silent.

Rose’s heart broke as she saw her normally lively and smiling girlfriend sit quietly on the couch, tears still shining in her eyes.

She quickly filled the kettle and pulled a packet of Luisa’s favorite cookies from the cupboard, making her way back to the couch with the snacks while the water started coming to a boil.

She didn’t say anything as she sat down next to Luisa, not sure what the brunette needed.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said eventually. ‘I should have been faster, I shouldn’t have let them take you. They shouldn’t even have gotten near you. What kind of hero am I…’

‘Stop,’ Luisa said, still staring at the floor. ‘It’s not your fault, Rose. It’s mine. It was so easy… They just got the drop on me like that, one minute I was talking to you, the next I couldn’t breathe and the world went black. Even when I woke up I could do nothing. I couldn’t slip out of those ropes they had tied me up with, and even if I had I wouldn’t have been able to fight them. I was so afraid. If you hadn’t shown up… I don’t want to think about what would have happened, but I can’t stop. I- I have never been so afraid. And I was just helpless. I should, I should have listened to you. This is all my fault,’ Luisa said more tears forcing their way down her cheeks.

‘I never want to hear you say that again,’ Rose said, cradling Luisa’s cheek in her palm, forcing her to look at her. ‘This was not your fault. You hear me? You are not to blame for this. You aren’t weak. You didn’t have it coming. None of this is on you. Okay?’

‘But…’ Luisa started, Rose interrupting her.

‘No, no buts. This is not on you. This is fully on Mike. He kidnapped you, Luisa. You are not at fault.’

Luisa sucked in a shuddering breath, holding it in her lungs for a moment before letting it out slowly. ‘It’s not my fault,’ she repeatedly softly.

‘It’s not,’ Rose said, pulling Luisa into her arms, kissing the side of her head softly. ‘It’s not your fault.’

They sat like that for a while, listening to the water boil.

‘How did you know?’ Luisa asked softly, leaning further back into Rose. ‘What I was thinking?’

‘I work with women like you every week, women who have been the victims of a crime, women who blame themselves for it.’

‘I don’t want to be a victim,’ Luisa whispered.

‘Sorry, wrong word. Survivor. You’re a survivor, Luisa. Even without my interference you would have come out unscathed. You’re much stronger than you think.’

‘I don’t feel strong. I feel scared. I know that he is jail and all, but I can’t help but think that if I go to sleep, he is going to find me again.’

‘It’s okay to feel scared. I was scared too.’

‘But you’re not anymore?’ Luisa asked, turning her head to look Rose in the eye.

‘No, I’m not,’ Rose smiled softly.

‘How?’

Rose rested her chin on Luisa’s shoulder, bringing her hand up to the left side of Luisa’s chest. ‘Because I can feel your heart beating. Because you’re here, safely in my arms.’

Luisa covered Rose’s hand with her own, feeling her own steady heartbeat underneath her fingertips for a moment. She then turned around, kneeling between Rose’s spread legs, bringing her own hand to Rose’s chest, feeling her heart beat.

Rose couldn’t help but smile as she slowly saw Luisa’s shoulders relax, her eyes softening, the panic and fear in them slowly melting away.

‘You’re going to be okay,’ Rose said, pulling Luisa’s on top of her, her head resting above her heart. ‘I am here for you. And if you don’t want to talk with me about it, I can recommend a crisis counselor.’

‘I don’t need a crisis counselor. I was only taken for an hour.’

‘It is not the duration of it that decides if an event is traumatic or not,’ Rose said, hugging Luisa tightly to her chest. ‘I would feel better if you talked with someone. And I think you would too.’

Luisa was silent for a moment. ‘It can’t hurt…’

‘No, it can’t. I’ll call her tomorrow.’

‘Won’t you see her at work?’ Luisa asked, drawing irregular shapes on Rose’s shoulder, not meeting her eyes.

‘I have taken tomorrow off. I already called your office too. Your replacement agreed to stay on a day longer. That way we can just spend tomorrow together and you don’t have to worry about anything.’

‘Thank you,’ Luisa said softly, brushing their lips together in a chaste kiss.

‘I love you,’ Rose said, stroking a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear.

‘I love you, too,’ Luisa said, her hands ghosting over Rose’s shirt, poking her finger through the bullet hole in the fabric. Then, much to Rose’s surprise, she put her hands on the lapels of her blouse and gave a firm pull, buttons flying off in all directions.

Before Rose could say anything about the careless destruction of her shirt, Luisa spoke.

‘Not a scratch,’ Luisa said, stroking the skin of Rose’s chest where the bullet would had struck, the patch of skin just as pale and unblemished as the rest of her. ‘You know, I would have hated you getting hurt on my behalf even more than being stuck there forever. I could have never forgiven myself if something happened to you because of me.’

‘I feel the same,’ Rose said, running her hand through Luisa’s hair, hoping to rid Luisa of the slightly disturbed look on her face.

‘I just don’t want you to rush into danger head first for me like you did today. There were four of them and just one of you.’

‘Luisa…’ Rose said, wanting to say she would have fought a hundred men for her. That she was the most important thing in her life, but Luisa interrupted her.

‘I don’t want you to worry about me. I want to be able to take care of myself. I- I want you to teach me,’ Luisa said, looking at Rose with serious eyes.

‘Teach you what?’ Rose asked, confused.

‘To protect myself. To fight. I want to help you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, another cliffhanger, I can't seem to help myself.
> 
> I hope it was worth the wait (although it definitely wasn't) and I will try and update more regularly!
> 
> Thank you for reading and comments are very welcome!


	9. Chapter 9

Rose carefully unwound the wraps from Luisa’s hands, stoically taking in the raw and bleeding skin of her knuckles, the bruised flesh of her fingers.

‘You should slow down,’ Rose said. ‘This needs time to heal.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Luisa sighed, her face contorting in pain as she flexed the fingers on her right hand, Rose busy tending to the left one which sported similar injuries.

‘Let’s get home so you can ice those hands.’ She ran her eyes up Luisa’s body, taking note of the bruises on her shins and thighs. She had agreed to train Luisa in self-defense after she had been kidnapped a month ago. It was slow going but Luisa was determined to make progress, which resulted in lots of bruises as she threw herself into training sessions with abandon.

‘So no shared shower?’ Luisa said suggestively, attempting to distract Rose from the injuries she had sustained during her training.

‘I would have to do all the work as your hands are quite useless right now,’ Rose said, pressing a soft kiss to Luisa’s bruised fingers. She didn’t like seeing Luisa in pain, even if it was just from repeatedly striking a heavy bag. But apart from some minor complaining about sore muscles, Luisa herself didn’t seem to mind terribly.

Luisa gasped in offence. ‘My other body parts that are still in perfect condition, I’ll have you know.’

Rose chuckled softly as she got up to grab their gear, ready to head on home.

‘Rose, I was serious about that shower,’ Luisa pouted.

‘And I was serious about you icing those hands. I can’t live without them forever,’ she teased, throwing her work-out bag over her shoulder, extending her hand to Luisa to help her up.

‘Fine, we can shower together after,’ Luisa sighed, groaning as her muscles protested moving, too overworked to do much more than lay about.

‘Deal,’ Rose said, knowing she would never get Luisa home otherwise. ‘Come on, Wonder Woman, let’s get you some ice.’

Luisa hummed contently as she leaned into Rose’s body, her arm resting around Rose’s waist as they made their way home together. ‘I like that. Even if you are the real Wonder Woman in this relationship.’

Rose smiled at Luisa’s completely honest and adoring tone, brushing her lips against Luisa’s cheek in thanks.

‘You know what I also like?’ Luisa said, a big grin stretching her lips, her fingers squeezing Rose’s side.

‘To have some ice cream while you ice your hands?’

‘You know me so well!’ Luisa smirked, pressing a kiss to Rose’s shoulder.

* * *

‘Ro-ose!’ Luisa whined, both her hands stuck in bowls of ice water, an unreachable bowl of Chunky Monkey set between them, taunting her. ‘Feed me.’

Rose stickered. ‘I was kind of hoping to see you stick your face in it.’

‘If I could use my hands I would punch you for that,’ Luisa pouted. ‘Luckily my feet still work,’ she said as she lightly kicked Rose in the shin as she approached her.

Gasping in shock and feigned hurt Rose pulled the bowl of ice cream completely away from Luisa, bringing a spoonful to her own mouth, exaggeratedly savoring the ice cream with a low hum, licking the spoon for extra effect.

Luisa stared at her with wide eyes, Rose not sure if it was from the shock of her _daring_ to eat her sacred ice cream or if it was arousal she saw shimmering behind the amber of Luisa’s eyes. She doubted Luisa herself was completely sure.

‘Babe, please, my hands are sore and cold, my muscles are on fire and I just want some sweet release.’ Her wording did not make things clearer on the ice cream/sex front.

Rose perched herself on the corner of the table, feeding Luisa a spoonful of slowly melting ice cream. Chuckling softly as some of it drippled down Luisa’s chin, leaning in to lick it away.

‘Jup, okay, this is done now,’ Luisa said resolutely as she pulled her hands from the water, tangling them in Rose’s hair to pull her in for a heated kiss.

Rose enjoyed it for a moment before an ice cold drop of water from Luisa’s hands dripped down the collar of her shirt, causing her to shiver violently; she was not good with cold.

‘Sorry,’ Rose said as she pulled away suddenly, wiping at her neck to get rid of the water. ‘Please dry your hands.’

Instead of drying her hands Luisa just started to grin and chased Rose into their bedroom.

‘Luisa!’ Rose yelped, trying to get away from Luisa’s cold hands by jumping onto the bed.

‘You ate my ice cream, you deserve this,’ Luisa said as she tackled Rose, collapsing them both onto the bed.

‘You just hurt yourself, didn’t you?’ Rose said as Luisa remained suspiciously motionless on top of her.

Luisa groaned softly in response. ‘Hands.’

‘Okay we’re going to ease up on the boxing,’ Rose said, stroking Luisa’s back.

‘But I like punching things,’ Luisa pouted.

‘That’s a little concerning.’

‘You punch things professionally, you can’t judge.’

‘I only punch people who really deserved it.’

‘I punch a leather bag filled with sand and rags. You still can’t judge.’

‘Alright,’ Rose smiled, admitting defeat. ‘I won’t judge.’ She very much preferred Luisa just punching a bag. She had agreed to teach Luisa self-defense in lieu of her kidnapping, but Luisa had originally asked for more. She didn’t just want to learn how to defend herself, she had wanted Rose to teach her how to _fight_. And Rose wasn’t as comfortable with that.

‘So shower?’ Luisa purred, pressing soft, lingering kisses to Rose’s throat.

‘Yes, definitely,’ Rose said, carrying Luisa into the shower. A deal was a deal after all.

* * *

Rose woke hours later to Luisa tossing and turning in bed next to her, caught in the throes of another nightmare.

‘Lu. Hey, Lu,’ Rose said, softly stroking Luisa’s cheek, hoping to wake her up. ‘Lu, wake up, it’s just a dream.’

Luisa’s eyes suddenly flew open and she shot up, Rose narrowly avoiding Luisa’s fist.

‘It’s okay, it’s just me. You’re safe,’ Rose said, flicking on the bedside lamp so Luisa could see where she was. ‘It’s okay,’ she repeated, gathering Luisa into her arms and holding her tightly.

‘I- I was back at the warehouse, and you were there. Only you- you got shot for real this time. And I could do nothing but watch as you bled out, calling my name.’ Luisa voice was muffled by Rose’s shirt and interrupted by harsh sobs.

Rose nodded, stroking up and down Luisa’s back. ‘It was all a dream. We’re at home. I’m okay. You’re okay. It was just a dream.’ Only it wasn’t just a dream. Part of it _had_ happened.

‘I’m okay. I’m okay,’ Luisa whispered, hoping that maybe repeating it to herself would make it true.

She was fine during the days, sudden noises are movements no longer scared like they had in the first week after being taken. It was just the nights that were still hard, having to relive the kidnapping every night, usually with varying bad endings.

Rose hadn’t donned her Red Diamond mask since the kidnapping. She had tried once two weeks after the fact, Luisa saying she would be fine and that other people needed her help more. Rose had come back that night to Luisa in complete hysterics, having woken from another nightmare and not finding Rose at her side. So Rose stayed with Luisa at night, knowing she needed her most of all.

Luisa’s breathing slowly quieted, her panic fading as she took in her surroundings and Rose’s heart beating steadily under her ear.

‘Do you want some tea?’ Rose offered, drying Luisa’s tears with a soft touch of her fingers.

‘Yea,’ Luisa nodded, hands plucking at the sheets as she tried to put aside what had just happened.

‘Come on,’ Rose said, walking around the bed to offer Luisa her hand, wrapping her arm around Luisa’s shoulders as she led her into the kitchen.

The water in the kettle slowly came to a boil on the stove, Rose tranquilly running her fingers through Luisa’s hair as they laid on the couch together.

‘I’m sorry.’ Luisa’s voice was high and choked and it made Rose feel even sadder.

‘You don’t have to apologize. Not for this. Ever.’ Her fingers stilled in Luisa’s hair, lightly grasping her chin to make her look at her, showing how serious she was about this.

‘But I wake you up every night with stupid things like nightmares.’ As she cast her eyes down to the ground, Rose was violently reminded that Luisa never used to do that. She had always been so sure of herself, so full of life. During the day that Luisa was still there, at night she was just a shell of her former self, plagued by the trauma she had gone through, making Rose’s heart break a little more for her every time.

‘I want to be woken up when you have a nightmare. I want to be there for you.’ _It’s my fault they took you in the first place_. ‘You went through a trauma. Just because that is over now doesn’t mean you can’t still feel the effects of it. It’s okay to have nightmares. They will fade. Things will get back to normal.’

‘The nightmares aren’t about the kidnapping. Not really. They are about you getting hurt on my behalf. Talking with Alana helped me get past that already. But this, you being the Red Diamond, you being the one who saved me, I can’t talk about that with her. I can’t talk about that with anyone.’

 _And that is what still upset you_ , Rose realized. Trying to figure out how she hadn’t caught on to this before. Luisa had never been completely comfortable with her being the Red Diamond. It wasn’t the trauma from being kidnapped that was keeping her up at night, it was the trauma of watching Rose get shot that did. And it was past time for Rose to help her with that.

‘Okay, tell her.’

‘Tell who what?’ Luisa asked, confusion swirling through sad, brown eyes.

‘Alana, next time you see her tell her what’s really going on. Tell her I am the Red Diamond and that that’s what’s keeping you up at night.’

Luisa blanched. ‘What? I- I can’t tell her that. It’s your secret identity! She might tell someone.’

‘I’ve known Alana for a long time, she won’t tell. And me being the Red Diamond is a big part of what is giving you these nightmares, you should be able to talk about it with your psychologist.’

‘Rose…’

‘I’m serious, Lu. I don’t want you to suffer like this because of me. Tell her.’

‘Okay,’ Luisa said in a small voice, burying her face against Rose’s shoulder.

‘Come on, let’s get some tea and go to bed. We both have work in the morning.’ She pressed a soft kiss to Luisa’s cheek, moving into the kitchen to pour them both a mug of sleepy time tea.

‘Thank you,’ Luisa mumbled sleepily, burrowing further into her pillow as her eyes started to droop. The tea combined with a long, exhausting day having done its job, making Luisa fall into what Rose hoped was a deep, dreamless sleep.

‘I love you,’ Rose whispered, pressing a feather light kiss to Luisa’s forehead before letting her own eyes close and sleep overtake her.

* * *

Rose looked up from the closing statement she had been drafting when she heard her phone buzz on the corner of her desk.

‘Hey, everything okay?’ Rose asked, concern creeping in between her words. She couldn’t remember the last time Luisa had called her after lunch and before she was supposed to leave for home.

‘Yes, everything’s okay. I’m okay,’ Luisa said warmly, she was more like her old self during the day. Rose had the feeling work helped too. ‘I’m just calling to ask you if you could leave a little earlier tonight so you can come see Alana with me.’

‘You want me there?’

‘If I’m going to talk about you I feel like you should be there. I would like you to be there,’ Luisa added softly.

‘I can duck out at five. My boss will be glad to be rid of me,’ Rose chuckled. She had a bit of a reputation for racking up overtime at work.

‘You work too much,’ Luisa said fondly.

‘I _did_ just agree to skip work for you,’ Rose smiled, twirling her pen between her fingers. It was nice to talk to Luisa when they were supposed to be working.

‘Big deal. You’ve never once even considered my _suggestion_ of taking a long lunch.’

Rose grinned. ‘Oh, I’ve considered them. But a long lunch won’t be enough for what I plan to do to you, and I can’t just take a whole afternoon off work. People would talk.’

‘A whole afternoon, huh?’ Luisa teased.

‘ _At least_.’

‘I am going to hang up now before you decide to ravage me over the phone.’

‘I’ll see you in a few hours. Alana’s office?’

‘Yes, see you there,’ Luisa said. ‘Thank you for coming with me.’

‘Of course, I love you.’

‘I love you too. See you then.’

‘See you then,’ Rose said before hanging up her phone. Making sure to set an alarm before going back to work. She had been known to forget the time when she was working on a case.

* * *

Rose left ten minutes before Luisa’s appointment was supposed to start. Alana’s office was just around the corner of the courthouse. It was practical as she worked a lot with the victims of the crimes they tried there and was often an expert witness for them.

‘Hey, babe,’ Rose greeted as she walked through the double doors of Alana’s waiting room, finding Luisa already there.

‘Hi,’ Luisa said getting up to kiss Rose before taking her seat again. ‘Thank you for coming.’

‘I’ll always be there if you want me to be,’ Rose smiled, lacing her fingers between Luisa’s, reading a Vanity Fair article over her shoulder.

‘Luisa?’ Alana called out as she appeared on her office doorstep. ‘I see you brought a lawyer today,’ she added with a grin as she spotted Rose sitting next to her.

‘Someone needs to keep you in line,’ Rose joked, getting up to hug her friend. ‘How’s your son?’

‘Margot and I got him a puppy for his birthday last week. So we are currently the world’s no. 1 moms,’ Alana smiled, leaning heavily on her cane as she walked back into her office, leaving the other two women to follow?’

‘How old is he now?’ Rose asked as she took one of the seat across from Alana’s desk, Luisa sitting down in the other one.

‘5, he’s going to school and everything,’ Alana said proudly. ‘But you’re not here to discuss my son, and Luisa definitely isn’t here for that. So we can get started whenever you’re ready, Luisa. You might want to start with why Rose is here.’

‘That’s not a problem, is it?’

‘Not at all, having some support is always good. We just all have to remember I am your therapist and not Rose’s. So why did you decide to bring her today?’

Luisa looked over at Rose, silently asking her if she was still okay with this.

Rose nodded her approval, reaching across the space between their chairs to gently squeeze Luisa’s hand in support, mindful of her still bruised skin.

‘Before I tell you I need to make sure it never leaves this room,’ Luisa asked seriously.

‘As Rose can tell you, everything you say in here falls under doctor/patient confidentiality. Unless you plan to harm yourself or have plans to commit any crimes I can’t say a word.’

‘That last one is kind of a gray area,’ Luisa said, running her hand through her hair.

Alana looked over at Rose, who shrugged in response. It _was_ a gray area of the law, but she was pretty certain Alana would be understanding of her choices.

‘I told you it was the Red Diamond who rescued me, and while that was the truth, it wasn’t all of it because… she’s also my girlfriend.’

‘You’re dating the Red Diamond?’ Alana asked, her mouth hanging open slightly. ‘You knew about this?’ The question was aimed at Rose, who realized from Alana’s expression that she hadn’t completely grasped what was going on.

‘Alana it’s me. I’m the Red Diamond.’

The only response she got from the psychologist sitting across from her was a blank stare.

‘Are you insane?!’ Was the lecture that followed a few seconds after. ‘Do you have a death wish? How can you just chase after people with guns like that?’

Rose was reminded of Luisa having very much the same reaction to finding out about her night job and that maybe a similar approach would work.

‘Because what the papers don’t mention about the Red Diamond is that she isn’t just a vigilante, she’s a superhero,’ Luisa cut in before Rose could even open her mouth.

‘I’m bulletproof,’ Rose added and while she knew it was just an expression, Alana’s jaw was very much on the floor.

‘She’s not joking. I’ve seen her slice open her palm, drink boiling hot coffee and get shot in the chest while not sustaining a scratch.’

‘That’s- not possible.’

‘That’s what I said,’ Luisa sighed. ‘And then she decided to prove it to me by running a knife across her palm. So unless you want to see _that_ I would just take her word for it.’

Alana looked at the two highly intelligent and accomplished women in front of her and decided to believe them for the sake of conversation.

‘Alright, and how does Rose being the Red Diamond play into your nightmares?’ Alana asked, trying to regain some control over the situation.

‘Because I am afraid that she throws herself head first into danger and that might get her killed.’

‘Well, if she is truly bulletproof as you said, that doesn’t seem like a logical fear.’

‘I know it isn’t. But there are other things they can do to her to harm her,’ Luisa said, letting her head hang down sadly.

Rose felt the need to explain herself, to defend her own actions but this wasn’t about her, so instead she reached out and took Luisa’s hand between her own again. Listening to Luisa opening up about her fears and Alana’s calm and thoughtful replies for most of the hour.

‘It is normal to be worried about the people you love, especially when what they do is dangerous. But you have passed beyond rational worry brought on by the trauma of being kidnapped and watching Rose almost get hurt while rescuing you. I can prescribe some anti-anxiety medication and something to help you sleep if you want.’

‘Are they addictive?’ Luisa asked, nervously rubbing her thumb across Rose’s knuckles. ‘I have a history of addiction.’

‘They’re not. I’ll make sure of it,’ Alana said. ‘And that’s our time for this week. I would like to see you again next week. Rose can come too if you prefer.’

‘That’s okay. She was just here in case you thought me delusional for thinking my girlfriend was a superhero. I’ll see you next week,’ Luisa said as she accepted the prescription from Alana.

‘Rose, would you mind staying for a moment?’ Alana asked as they both got up.

‘Of course,’ Rose nodded. ‘Go on, I’ll be right out,’ she said to Luisa, kissing her cheek softly.

‘I didn’t want to ask you with Luisa still in the room as she definitely has some issues about seeing you get hurt, but I am going to need some proof before I put you both on anti-psychotics and have you committed for delusional behavior.’

Rose nodded, she had expected as much. Alana was a realist and a medical professional and since people weren’t just bulletproof she was going to need some evidence, she was just glad she hadn’t asked for it in front of Luisa.

‘Do you have anything sharp?’

Alana twisted the handle off her cane and produced a thin gleaming blade seemingly out of nowhere.

‘Seriously? You have a knife embedded in the handle of your cane?’ Rose asked, unable to keep the grin off her face. ‘That is such cliché. How do they let you into court with that thing?’

‘You’re not the only one with secrets,’ Alana said casually but with a slight edge to her words, offering the blade to Rose, looking a little concerned as Rose pressed the tip into her palm. The whitened skin around it showing she was applying force and not just faking it.

In a move that was starting to become almost familiar to Rose she pulled the blade across her skin, feeling the pressure of it but no pain or blood welled up from her hand.

‘That’s not possible,’ Alana said incredulously, inspecting Rose’s hand.

‘I know. But it is.’

‘You owe me an explanation for this.’

‘If I had one I would gladly tell you. I just woke up from a coma like this.’

‘Okay, you _definitely_ owe me an explanation for that. We’re having dinner soon.’

‘Gladly,’ Rose smiled, giving Alana another hug.

‘And Rose, be careful. Both for Luisa as well as for yourself.’

‘I always am. Thank you for helping her. Say hi to Margot and your son for me.’

‘I’ll do. See you soon,’ Alana said, sinking back into her plush chair while Rose stepped out into the waiting room.

‘Everything okay?’ Luisa asked, putting down the magazine she had been pretending to read for the last couple of minutes.

‘Yeah, she just needed to clarify some things,’ Rose said, carefully linking her hand with Luisa’s, avoiding her bruised skin and bones.

‘Want to go grab a bite to eat before heading home?’

Rose nodded her approval; a casual night out was something they desperately needed. A moment away from the strange reality of the fighting and crimes they had found themselves in, even if it was only for a few hours.

‘And afterwards I can show you just what I would do if you ever took a long lunch,’ Luisa purred and Rose was happy to note Luisa would always be more of a lover than a fighter.

**Author's Note:**

> What is a superhero story without a good cliffhanger? Not a superhero story I tell you!  
> Sorry for the suspense, but I should really go back to studying now.
> 
> Comments are always welcome, I would love to hear what you think about this au! And right now they are more useful than ever as they will definitely help motivate me to study/write. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and I will see you for the next chapter that will be uploaded some time in the future!


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